Triple Eight driver Broc Feeney knows time is running out in his bid to close the gap on Supercars leader Will Brown.
Podium finishes have dropped away for Feeney after a red-hot start to the season, and the rising star is at risk of slipping out of second place as racing moves to Darwin.
The 21-year-old claimed three of the first five races of the season to surge to the top of the championship standings before his recent dip in form.
While teammate Brown has continued to bank podium places, poor results in Perth have left Feeney vulnerable to being leapfrogged.
The Gold Coast product's pace deserted him in Western Australia, Feeney qualifying a disappointing 12th and finishing seventh in the final race of the weekend.
Triple Eight owner Jamie Whincup was left bemused at Feeney's Perth performance, admitting the team did not know why one side of the garage was outgunning the other.
"Perth was a pretty tough one to take," Feeney said.
"It wasn't our best round, that's for sure. It's one to put behind us.
"The last two have probably been a little bit tougher than what we'd like."
Brown leads the competition with a 136-point lead, while there are 39 points between second-placed Feeney and Walkinshaw Andretti United driver Chaz Mostert in third.
With 300 points on offer in the Northern Territory, Feeney is desperate to replicate last year's Darwin form when he placed second, first and third across the three races.
"Will's been doing a great job this year and super-consistent," Feeney said.
"To be competitive and fighting for a championship, we certainly need to not have the bad days that we've been having.
"We need to make sure that we don't have that happen again, because it's a long championship but (after) a tough weekend, you've got to claw back a lot."
