Jack Le Brocq and Broc Feeney take Darwin victories as points battle heats up

Jack Le Brocq and Broc Feeney shared the race wins on the final day of Supercars action at Hidden Valley in Darwin as points leader Brodie Kostecki hit trouble.

Chevrolet dominated all day, taking nine out of the top 10 places in the second race, which Feeney claimed after a lively battle with Brad Jones Racing’s Andre Heimgartner in the middle of the 35-lap encounter.

He led home a Red Bull Ampol Racing one-two as Shane van Gisbergen vaulted past his compatriot after a late pit-stop.

Le Brocq produced a similarly resolute performance in the third bout to take Matt Stone Racing’s first victory in the championship, as Heimgartner again finished on the podium, this time second with Feeney third.

The championship contenders endured an up-and-down weekend, with van Gisbergen only managing fourth in race three following a stall at his pit-stop while Kostecki’s race was ruined after contact damaged the front-right corner.

Race 2

After taking pole position in the top 10 shootout, Feeney maintained his lead into turn one for the first time, both he and fellow front-row starter Heimgartner getting even starts off the line.

Further back, there was drama as Declan Fraser and Matt Payne came together at turn seven, the knock-on effect of that contact forced Le Brocq and Jack Smith to collect each other, taking the latter out of the race with significant damage.

Feeney continued to lead Heimgartner, who withstood early pressure from the other Red Bull Chevrolet of Shane van Gisbergen before pitted on lap 18 in an attempt to undercut the leader.

Red Bull then brought Feeney in on the next lap, which was enough to hold onto the lead but Heimgartner was soon all over the back of the #88 Camaro.

The resulting battling allowed van Gisbergen to push on at the front and the defending champion got the necessary margin over Heimgartner to vault into second place at turn five following his late stop for fresh rubber.

Feeney, however, had just enough of an advantage to hang on to claim victory by 1.4s from van Gisbergen with Heimgartner third.

Race 3

Le Brocq topped the final qualifying session of the weekend and held onto his lead despite a superb start from Heimgartner at turn one.

Heimgartner’s challenge was fierce on the opening tour as he tried to drive around the outside of turn six, but Le Brocq resisted admirably.

In the pack, Kostecki hit trouble as contact with Anton de Pasquale caused extensive front-end damage to his Chevrolet Camaro, effectively ending his race on the opening lap. The Erebus driver saw the 109-point championship lead reduced to 59 points over Brown.

Heimgartner and Le Brocq pitted together on lap 18 with the order remaining stable on exit, but Feeney undercut race one winner Mark Winterbottom for third place.

Erebus Racing’s Will Brown also made it past Winterbottom, but he received a 15-second time penalty after using a bit more contact than the stewards felt necessary to take the position. That elevated van Gisbergen to fourth at the flag.

That was despite a slow pit-stop for the Red Bull driver, who lost time after stalling. He rejoined in the pack but produced a solid comeback on new tyres to finish just off the podium.

Back in the lead, Le Brocq was unchallenged for the remainder of the race, coming home 1.4s clear of Heimgartner with Feeney completing the podium in third.

The story of the day, though, was undoubtedly Tickford Racing’s rebuild of Cam Waters’ Ford Mustang, which caught fire spectacularly in the early stages of race one.

Waters had started on pole on Saturday but was forced out after a fuel leak, leaving his team staying up until the early hours of Sunday morning to repair the car.

He made it out for both races and finished a sensational fifth in race three, just four seconds away from the podium.

Brown was sixth after his penalty, ironically ahead of the driver he hit Winterbottom, with Davison eighth.

Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert was ninth and Todd Hazelwood 10th.

Next up for Supercars is the Townsville 500 on the weekend of 7-9 July.