Broc Feeney grabs pole for Enduro Cup opener at The Bend

Supercars points leader Broc Feeney emerged on top of a dramatic qualifying session at The Bend to bag pole for the first event on the Enduro Cup schedule.

The Triple Eight driver scored a 14th pole of the campaign in the Top Ten Shootout having been set a target to chase by Matt Stone Racing’s Cameron Hill.

Hill looked like he could take top spot in a major surprise when a lap of 1:48.7571s proved to be too good for Ryan Wood, who ran wide on his quick lap, and then Cam Waters – who fell just short.

That left two drivers to run in the shootout, the first of which was Feeney in a car that Triple Eight had been forced to repair after a coming together between Jamie Whincup and Scott Pyle during practice earlier in the day.

Feeney went quicker through the first sector but then lost time in sector two before a strong final sector saw him go a tenth of a second faster and move to the front of the field.

Even then, Brodie Kostecki was still to run having topped the earlier qualifying session and it looked like he could be on for pole until losing out in the final sector.

Not only did that mean he missed out on pole, Kostecki also fell just short of knocking Hill off the front row to leave the defending champion lining up in third spot – with Waters alongside on the second row.

Thomas Randle was fifth quickest behind his Tickford team-mate, with Matt Payne and Anton De Pasquale close behind, whilst Chaz Mostert had to settle for eighth.

Cooper Murray and Wood rounded out the top ten.

Elsewhere, Will Brown was the big loser in the first part of qualifying when he could only manage the 16th best time, leaving plenty of work to do on race day.