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Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Broc Feeney has converted pole position to victory in Race 6 at the Beaurepaires Melbourne SuperSprint despite spending most of the contest deep in the pack.
Feeney was one of only three in the top 10 to start on the hard compound of tyres and ceded the lead on the first lap proper, before pitting for super softs as soon as he could.
Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert and then Brad Jones Racing’s Bryce Fullwood took over the official lead but the former would dump positions due to blistered tyres and the latter missed out on a fourth position in the end due to a penalty for an unsafe pit release.
When the pit stop cycle finally ended with one lap of 13 to go, the #88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro emerged in the lead and BJR’s #8 R&J Batteries Camaro assumed second position in the hands of Andre Heimgartner, where he would remain for the final 5.278km around Albert Park.
Brodie Kostecki (#99 Coca-Cola Camaro) finished third, with the Erebus Motorsport driver now leading the Repco Supercars Championship and taking out the Larry Perkins Trophy.
Shane van Gisbergen was classified fourth and Jack Le Brocq fifth, with Will Davison first of the Fords in sixth.
The race started under Safety Car as a precautionary measure following the two Ford Mustang fires in as many evenings, before Feeney led the field to green flag in single file on what was officially the commencement of Lap 2.
However, Feeney started on hard tyres whereas Mostert was on super softs, and the WAU driver pulled alongside through the Lakeside Stadium car park section.
Mostert positioned the #25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang on the outside of the Turn 5 sweeper and made the pass, before Will Brown (#9 Coca-Cola Camaro), who was also on super softs, drove down the inside of Car #88 on the run to Turn 6.
Feeney, and most of the other hard tyre starters, pitted at the end of Lap 2, meaning Fullwood (#14 Middy’s Camaro) inherited third, and the BJR driver then had a big catch when he dropped a wheel off the edge of the track at Turn 8.
On Lap 4, Brown had a dive down the inside of Mostert at Ascari but had not completed the pass by the time they arrived at the next left-hander.
Stuck on the dirty part of the track, the Erebus driver spun and looped the #9 Camaro into the wall on drivers’ right before retreating to the pits.
Fullwood quickly closed the gap to Mostert and, on Lap 8, lunged his former team-mate at Turn 1.
The 2019 Dunlop Super2 Series winner had to defend at Turn 3 but the pass was done, and Mostert soon found his mirrors full of the #17 Shell V-Power Mustang of Davison, who in turn had van Gisbergen (#97 Red Bull Ampol Camaro) ranging up on him after starting 12th.
Davison made the pass at Turn 3 on Lap 9 and that made room for van Gisbergen to follow, before the three-time champion overtook his fellow two-time Bathurst 1000 winner at Turn 6/Turn 7 and was up to second on the road.
Mostert continued to lose positions hand over fist before pitting from ninth at the end of Lap 11.
Meanwhile, Fullwood had got to about 1.5s clear of the field but was beginning to be reeled in by van Gisbergen.
He was about half a second up when the top eight filed into the lane with a lap to go for their respective compulsory pit stops.
Feeney and Heimgartner took over the top two, from Kostecki, Fullwood, and van Gisbergen.
However, word quickly came through that Fullwood would have 15 seconds added to his race time and fourth at the chequered flag became 18th in the provisional classification.
Van Gisbergen therefore claimed fourth, from Le Brocq (#34 Truck Assist Camaro), Davison, Macauley Jones (#96 Pizza Hut Camaro), David Reynolds (#26 Penrite Mustang), Todd Hazelwood (#3 CoolDrive Mustang), and Cameron Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang).
Mostert ended up 14th, while Anton De Pasquale (#11 Shell V-Power Mustang) was last on the lead lap in 22nd after he too was penalised for an unsafe release.
Brown was classified a finisher in 23rd, while Cameron Hill (#35 Truck Assist Camaro) was a DNF after locking the rears and getting beached at Ascari in an unsuccessful attempt to pass Declan Fraser (#56 Tradie Mustang) on the final lap.
Kostecki not only leads the drivers’ championship, by 32 points over Mostert; Erebus retains its lead in the teams’ championship, with Triple Eight second.
The next event is the Perth SuperSprint, at Wanneroo Raceway, on April 28-30.
Results to follow
