The 40-lap encounter finished under Safety Car after a second crash at The Cutting for Blanchard Racing Team rookie Aaron Love, although the contest looked largely done before then anyway.

Brown had converted pole position into the early lead but fell behind in the first pit stop cycle and was 1.4s behind Feeney’s #88 Camaro when the race was neutralised on Lap 39 around Mount Panorama.

First of the Ford drivers home was Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert in third in the #25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang, having been 2.1s in arrears of Brown’s #87 Camaro before the last yellow period, with Grove Racing’s Richie Stanaway fourth on his return to full-time competition in the #26 Penrite Mustang.

In what was otherwise a fairly procedural race, there was also drama when Cam Waters’ #6 Monster Energy Mustang lost a wheel exiting Griffins Bend on Lap 33.

Said wheel rolled back down the hill and was retrieved under the new-for-2024 Full Course Yellow, with minimal impact on the race.

With one race in the books, Feeney leads the drivers’ championship by 12 points over Brown, with Triple Eight Race Engineering on top of the teams’ championship with a 75-point margin to Matt Stone Racing.

There had been drama even before the start for James Golding (#31 PremiAir Nulon Camaro), who qualified sixth, when he could not get off the grid for the formation lap without the help of his team, and hence had to return to pit lane to start.

When the lights did go out, Mostert made the best start of those at the pointy end of the field but was boxed in by the Triple Eight Camaros in front of him and Cameron Hill’s MSR entry alongside him.

Brown headed the field up Mountain Straight and Feeney had wrested back second from Mostert as they arrived at Griffins Bend, with Hill taking third courtesy of the inside line into the second corner.

A Safety Car was quickly called because Ryan Wood (#2 Mobil 1 Truck Assist Mustang) had become stuck in the Hell Corner gravel trap after a four-way squeeze with Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries Camaro), Thomas Randle (#55 Castrol Mustang), and Tim Slade (#23 PremiAir Nulon Camaro).

Under Safety Car, Stanaway sat fifth, from Todd Hazelwood (#99 TFH Camaro), Nick Percat (#10 Bendix Camaro), Anton De Pasquale (#11 Shell V-Power Mustang), David Reynolds (#20 Tradie Beer Camaro), and Matt Payne (#19 Penrite Mustang).

The race restarted at the end of Lap 2 and Brown stretched his lead beyond a second after two full green flag laps.

De Pasquale and Payne were pulled out of the train to kick off the first of two compulsory pit stop cycles, and 60-litre total drop, on Lap 5.

Those in front pressed on and Brown led Feeney by 0.8s after Lap 10, with another two seconds to Hill and almost two more to Mostert.

Brown pitted a lap later, for four tyres and not much more fuel to cover that, before Feeney was called in the next time around, and was followed in by Stanaway.

Triple Eight managed to dispatch Car #88 quickly enough such that Feeney popped out ahead of Brown in an effective change of the lead.

Mostert was 3.5s behind Hill when he pitted from second place on Lap 13, just before the MSR driver had an off at Hell Corner.

He pressed on but when he took his first CPS at the end of that lap, he rejoined behind Stanaway in an effective loss of around three positions (depending on fuel fill discrepancies).

Percat was last to make his first stop, at exactly half race distance, meaning Feeney assumed the lead with a margin of 2.1s over Brown, another seven seconds to Mostert, then Stanaway and Reynolds, the latter of whom had just lost a spot with an off at The Chase.

Hazelwood was sixth, from Hill, Bryce Fullwood (#14 Middy’s Camaro), Percat, and Payne, with De Pasquale 23rd but having already been into the lane a second time.

Payne had been overtaken for 10th by Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries Camaro) by the time he took his second stop on Lap 23, before Hill went up the inside of Hazelwood for sixth at Griffins Bend on Lap 24.

Moments later, Love hit the wall at The Cutting and, with the #3 CoolDrive Mustang crabbing across the top of the mountain, Triple Eight responded by pitting Brown from second, as did Erebus Motorsport with Hazelwood and Brad Jones Racing with Heimgartner.

However, Love managed to get back to the pits on that occasion and neither a Full Course Yellow nor Safety Car came.

Reynolds stopped anyway on Lap 25 and Mostert had drifted 11.7s behind Feeney when he pitted on Lap 27.

Stanaway was even further behind again when he was called in on Lap 28, rejoining between Mostert and Hill, and hence still effectively fourth.

Triple Eight pitted Feeney on Lap 29 and he resumed ahead of Brown, with Mostert four seconds behind the two dark blue Camaros.

When Percat completed the second pit cycle on Lap 31, Feeney led Brown by 0.8s while Mostert had clawed a few tenths back relative to Brown with back-to-back fastest laps.

Stanaway was nearly 16 seconds further back in fourth, from Hill, Fullwood, Percat, Reynolds, Heimgartner, and Payne in 10th, with Hazelwood 11th and De Pasquale 21st.

Waters’ wheel incident threatened to compress the field although the Full Course Yellow essentially froze proceedings for less than a lap, before green flags flew again.

Feeney extended his lead to 1.2s on Lap 36 but Mostert had closed to 2.1s behind Brown with four laps to go, despite consistently being multiple kilometres per hour slower in the speed trap.

Feeney bowled out a personal best time on Lap 37 and the split from first to second was 1.6s, but a touch under 2.1s from second to third.

It mattered little once a Safety Car was called just as the front-runners started Lap 39 after Love hit the wall at The Cutting a second time.

That sealed a win for Feeney, from Brown, Mostert, Stanaway, Hill, Percat, Fullwood, Reynolds, Heimgartner, and Payne.

Hazelwood finished 11th, team-mate Jack Le Brocq (#9 TFH Camaro) was 13th, Randle was first of the Tickford Racing duo to the chequered flag in 14th, Dick Johnson Racing’s Will Davison (#17 Shell V-Power Mustang) was 16th, De Pasquale ended up 21st, and Waters was classified five laps down in 22nd.

Qualifying for Race 2 starts tomorrow at 09:30 local time/AEDT.

Results: Race 1, Thrifty Bathurst 500

Drivers’ championship

Teams’ championship