Broc Feeney storms to Queensland finale victory
Broc Feeney made it two wins from three in Queensland with victory in a dramatic final Supercars race of the weekend.
The current points leader – who wrapped up the Repco Sprint Cup with his race one victory a day earlier – emerged on top following a somewhat chaotic 63 lap encounter that wrapped up the Ipswich Super 440.
Feeney qualified on pole for the race to earn himself $50,000 for the most poles in the season as the Triple Eight man topped the times in the session for the 13th time – a record no one else is now able to overhaul.
A gap of nearly half a second over Ryan Wood showed Feeney’s dominance in the session, with Will Brown and Anton De Pasquale sharing the second row and wildcard Zach Bates starring to take fifth alongside Brodie Kostecki.
Feeney launched off the line into the lead when the lights went out as the field behind managed to avoid a repeat of the multi-car accidents that had blighted race two on Saturday, with Wood holding on to second but De Pasquale jumping ahead of Brown.
Things were turned on their head however when rain started to fall on lap three, leaving drivers with a decision to take over whether to pit for wet rubber or to brave it out on slicks.
James Courtney elected to dive in for grooved tyres but it would prove to be the wrong call as the rain eased and conditions came back to those who had stayed out.
Feeney continued to lead from Wood, with Kostecki having battled his way up into third in the tricky conditions before the scheduled stops kicked off, and the majority of the field were then able to complete their second stops shortly afterwards when an off for Cameron Crick brought out the safety car.
Kai Allen, Cameron Waters and Andre Heimgartner hadn’t made their first stops at that point, and making two quick tops under caution allowed them to vault up the order, with Waters emerging as leader when the action resumed.
Feeney had dropped back to fourth but wasted little time in getting ahead of Heimgartner into fourth and then cleared Allen for second before going off after Waters at the front.
The pair went wheel-to-wheel before Feeney was able to get ahead and despite rain starting to fall again in the final laps, he was comfortable out front as he grabbed the win by more than eight seconds.
Waters took second spot from Allen, despite the pair having started back in 19th and 22nd respectively – reflecting just how much they had been able to benefit from the timing of the caution period.
Mostert took the flag in fourth spot but a five second penalty for a clash with De Pasquale dropped him behind Matt Payne and Kostecki, with the top ten completed by Heimgartner, De Pasquale, James Golding and Richie Stanaway.
Brown would end up back in 16th spot after being tipped into a spin by Ryan Wood, with qualifying star Bates only 21st after he found himself roughed up mid-race after contact from both Cameron Hill and Nick Percat.
Even with his issues, Brown joined Feeney in securing a spot in the Finals stage of the season to fight for the title, with Payne also now confirmed amongst the ten drivers who will battle for the championship crown.
