Triple Eight takes legal action against Supercars engineer Cauchi

Cauchi left Triple Eight after a successful stint as a race engineer at the end of last season to join Grove Racing as team principal.

However it was expected, at least by T8, that he would complete six months of gardening leave before beginning his new role.

That clearly hasn't happened, Cauchi appearing alongside GR at both the Winton test last month, and the opening round at Sydney Motorsport Park this weekend.

That's prompted T8 to take legal action against its former engineer, who worked for T8 from 2007 to 2021.

Initially a data engineer role, he took over as the race engineer on Jamie Whincup's car in 2014. The pair won titles together in 2014 and 2017 before Cauchi was shifted over to Shane van Gisbergen's car last year, which yielded another title.

"Triple Eight Race Engineering is of the view that David Cauchi is in breach of his ongoing contractual obligations to the team," read a statement.

"Triple Eight has instructed its lawyers to take immediate steps to protect the team’s legitimate business interests.

"We won’t be making any further statements until the matter is determined by the Court.

"Triple Eight’s priority is our on-track performance and we remain fully focused on delivering the best possible results at this weekend’s Sydney SuperNight."

Lee Holdsworth, Kelly Grove Racing Ford

Photo by: Supercars

Grove Racing responded with a statement of its own: "It is a private issue between David Cauchi and Triple Eight and it is a legal matter between the parties, Grove Racing will make no comment at this stage."

It appears Grove Racing is of the opinion there was no gardening leave attached to Cauchi's exit. That's what owner Stephen Grove told the Inside Supercars podcast during the Winton test late last month.

"From our perspective, I'm not really sure where that came from," said Grove.

"Contractually he was available, from our perspective, so why wouldn't we start him? That was always the deal. He was cleared to come and race with us, so that's what we're doing."