Broc Feeney says that he is focused on consistency as he vies for this year’s Dunlop Super2 Series title, having been part of a thriller in Townsville.
The Triple Eight Race Engineering driver is now four race wins out of six in 2021, including three out of four in the two rounds held in Townsville, where he finished second in the other.
The results took Feeney from second in the series at the start of the month to top of the table with a 51-point lead over Tickford Racing’s Zak Best, the only other driver to score a victory at the Reid Park Street Circuit.
Asked about how mindful he is of his points advantage, the 18-year-old said, “It’s always in the back of your mind.
“My biggest thing is just trying to be as consistent as I can, so if it comes down to trying to throw a race win away, or sitting back for second, you take the points.
“It’s good to have a little bit of a lead; obviously, I want to keep winning races and keep extending that lead in the championship, though.”
While Feeney dominated the first Townsville event, he did not have it quite so much his own way in the second.
The 2019 Super3 Series winner made a poor start to Race 1 but passed team-mate Angelo Mouzouris, Best, and MW Motorsport’s Jayden Ojeda on his way to a win which was only confirmed hours after the fact, after the contest ended under red flag.
He briefly ran third in Race 2 before harassing Best for a number of laps, but without finding a way through.
Nevertheless, Feeney won the round and extended his series lead by nine points.
“It’s awesome,” he exclaimed.
“As I was just saying to Jess[ica Dane] before, if you said to me a couple of weeks ago that we’d win three out of four races up here, and win both rounds, I’d have definitely taken that.
“Zak just did a little bit better job [in Race 2], but to still come away with the round win just shows the consistency over the last couple of weekends, and all that hard work’s paying off.”
Despite his comments about consistency, Feeney put Best under intense pressure during the Round 3 finale.
He fired down the inside but could not pull up in time to make the move stick on one occasion, and was resisted when he got alongside on another, before #78 and #888 skated into Turn 2 on the rear brakes inside the final four laps.
“I gave it my all,” recounted Feeney of Race 2.
“Couple of little mistakes – when I got to him with the little mistake at Turn 2 – and then it was just hard racing down the bottom at Turn 11.
“He just did a better job and was just consistent and made no mistakes.
“I dug so deep in that two thirds of the race to claw back up that gap, and it’s just something that I didn’t execute on at the end of the race but it’s always something to learn and work on for the next one.”
Feeney is known to be one of the candidates for Jamie Whincup’s seat when the seven-time champion retires from at least full-time competition at the end of the season, and will contest the Repco Bathurst 1000 in Triple Eight’s Supercheap Auto-backed wildcard entry.
He expressed hope after the first Townsville round that a Super2 title would be enough to get the nod as Whincup’s replacement, and has his eyes firmly set on closing out the second tier campaign.
“Hundred percent, the championship’s still the goal, but I go out and try and win every race and so does everyone; we’re here to win races,” said the Gold Coast steerer.
“Obviously this [is] awesome form we’ve had so far this year – I think, four out of six wins we’ve had and then second today [Race 2, Round 3] as well – so the pace has been awesome this year and the team’s doing a ripper job.
“[I am] always going out, trying to win races, but at the end of the day the main goal is to be the champion at the end of the year.”
Mouzouris, who had poor luck in Round 2, experienced frustration again in the other Triple Eight entry.
He finished 14th in the Super2 class in Race 1 after mid-race contact with Jordan Boys while battle for fifth, before taking fourth in Race 2, and is now eighth in the Super2 standings.
“Overall, my weekend was OK,” said Mouzouris.
“Obviously, Saturday wasn’t the best for me – I got put in the fence and had to reverse out of it, which put me right at the back.
“[Race 2] though, was pretty good. I didn’t really maximise qualifying and started from P6 which isn’t what we wanted.
“I had a clean race and had pace throughout the end of the race which I put down to managing our tyres and having clean air, which was awesome. I finished P4, so I think onwards and upwards from there.
“I’m really looking forward to Queensland Raceway if we end up racing there. It’s our test track, so we should be quick there.
“I guess we’ll review the entire two weeks in Townsville, keep pushing ourselves and make sure we’re pushing for podiums and race wins in the coming rounds.”
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