Triple Eight has effectively had two major projects in the works this year, with the race programme for the Gen2 cars running alongside the development of the Gen3 hardware.
The team is not only the homologation squad for GM, which means its responsible for the Camaro-specific parts of the next-gen car, but has also been in charge of much of the control component development on behalf of Supercars.
The race programme has held up well, lead driver Shane van Gisbergen holding a whopping 500-point series lead as he charges towards a third Supercars title.
And in the teams' championship, critical for pit order next season, Triple Eight holds a 196-point lead, helped by Broc Feeney enjoying a relatively strong showing at Sandown.
However there were also clear signs at Sandown that DJR had closed the gap on outright race pace.
Usually a T8 stronghold, Will Davison broke a seven-race streak by storming to a dominant win for DJR on Saturday.
He was easily a match for van Gisbergen in Sunday's finale as well, only missing out on another win due to losing crucial track position early in the race.
According to T8 team boss Whincup, the squad was a little surprised to be beaten so comprehensively by Davison on the Saturday.
However he added that, given the majority of T8's focus is on delivering the Gen3 car and not on developing the Gen2 cars, it was inevitable that other teams would make gains.
"[DJR is] doing a very, very good job," he told the Castrol Motorsport News podcast.
"At the end of [Saturday] it was the first time this year we went, 'oh, we didn't have the outright pace to win the race, at any part of the race'.
"In saying that, though, it surprised me how quick they were... but in another regard it doesn't surprise me, because 90 per cent of our time has been building the Gen3 car for the series.
"If you're not doing that and you're dedicating your time to making your Gen2 car fast, then it makes sense."
As the Ford homologation team, DJR has had its own direct involvement in the development of the Gen3 platform.
But while that may be taking some attention away from the race team, Whincup is adamant DJR isn't as badly affected by the Gen3 programme as Triple Eight.
"It's good that they've got some level as far as the Ford bodywork goes," he added.
"But the truth is, and no one will deny it, 90 per cent of the work for Gen3 is getting done by Triple Eight. The other 10 per cent is shared by the rest of field, with five or six per cent of that being DJR.
"I don't want to be crying, 'poor us'. But I'm just saying, the reality is that we spend all that time on Gen3, and a very small part of our time making our Gen2 cars go fast.
"So it's not a big surprise that we come here and another team is slightly quicker."
