Broc Feeney beats Brodie Kostecki in frantic third Melbourne race
Broc Feeney managed to deny Brodie Kostecki a third straight Supercars Championship victory in a frantic third race at Albert Park in Melbourne.
Triple Eight man Feeney started from pole and successfully defended the lead into Turn 1 from a fast-starting Aaron Cameron.
There was drama behind the leading cars as Jayden Ojeda was spun around, with several cars having to take avoiding action through the gravel.
As the field headed to Turn 2, Cameron and Matthew Payne collided in the fight for second place, forcing points leader Payne to retire with multiple punctures.
The safety car headed out after the second lap as Cooper Murray was sent into the gravel following a late dive by Will Brown who also collected Jack Le Brocq.
The race resumed on lap six and Dick Johnson Racing driver Kostecki was quick to cleanly get past Cameron for second place.
The second safety car session came just a lap later as Macauley Jones went into the barriers at Turn 5 following contact by Ryan Wood who was handed a penalty, with Thomas Randle being collected in the process as well.
As the race resumed, rival Ford drivers Feeney and Kostecki battled hard for the lead.
The two made contact on lap 12, forcing Feeney to cut across the grass while Kostecki slowed down to let him keep the lead.
The fight continued all the way to the chequered flag, with Feeney only just hanging on to claim victory by less than two tenths of a second over Kostecki.
The victory has handed Feeney the points lead back, 32 ahead of Kostecki and 45 ahead of Payne.
Cameron Waters claimed the final podium spot after a strong move on Cameron for third after the restart and later a hard fight with Kai Allen. Cameron was later hit by Brown, with both spinning off track and dropping down the order.
Allen (Ford) came home in fourth ahead of Chaz Mostert (Toyota) and Anton De Pasquale (Chevrolet).
The fourth and final race of the Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend starts at 10:10 local time on Sunday.
