Feeney identifies key to Supercars title success

Kostecki won six races on his way to the title, one more than either of Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Feeney or Shane van Gisbergen notched up.

However, it is podiums where stark differences begin to appear in the metrics, with the Erebus Motorsport steerer amassing 18 from the 28-race campaign compared to championship runner-up van Gisbergen’s 10.

Feeney also beat his team-mate for podiums, by one, but finished one position and 124 points behind in the drivers’ standings.

He is expecting several drivers to vie for the championship in 2024, on the basis that 12 (including two co-drivers) won races in 2023, but believes they will need to emulate the form which Kostecki produced.

“I think there’s a lot of guys that can be in the mix and Brodie was a standout last year,” said Feeney.

“He was super-consistent, and that’s why he got the big trophy at the end of the year.

“There’s going to be a lot of quick guys; I mean, it showed throughout the whole year, how many people won races.

“The biggest thing was consistency and that’s what Brodie and his team did, and that’s what we’re looking for this year.

“I’m not focusing on everyone else at the moment; I’m just trying to be the best Broc that I can be and, hopefully, when I hit the track, that’s a fast Broc as well.

“I’m really enjoying it. I think I’m more excited this year than I nearly was in my first year, which I feel like’s saying something.

“I’ve just been waiting to get back in the workshop, so I’m pretty excited for this year.”

The 21-year-old’s ‘good year’ included a first enduro win, in the Sandown 500, after which he was 204 points off the championship lead.

However, a broken gear lever tower cost him a likely second place in the Bathurst 1000 in heartbreaking circumstances, and he could muster only 14th and 10th from the Gold Coast 500 which followed after dramas in qualifying.

Come Adelaide, then Feeney was out of the hunt for the championship, after being in contention for so long.

“I want to go for the championship; that’s the goal, and it was last year,” added the Red Bull Ampol Racing driver.

“We were there or thereabouts, we were in the talk for most of the year, and unfortunately we weren’t there at the end of the year.

“But, I thought we had a good year.

“It wasn’t a great year, but hopefully 2024 can be a great year for us.”

Feeney will also be in action at the Bathurst 12 Hour, sharing one of Triple Eight’s Mercedes-AMGs with new Supercars team-mate Will Brown and factory driver Mikael Grenier.