Feeney leads Triple Eight one-two in Supercars Race 3 at AGP

The #88 Camaro pilot won by 2.3253s over team-mate Will Brown after 18 laps around the Melbourne circuit and also secured the five fastest lap bonus points on the final lap.

Penrite Racing’s Matt Payne threw away third place on the road when he bowled a wide at the penultimate corner of the race but it did not cost him a podium in official terms given Nick Percat had a five-second penalty hanging over his head after a run-in with Chaz Mostert.

Percat was officially sixth in the end, one position ahead of De Pasquale, with Mostert salvaging fourth in the classification.

The result means that Feeney is back in the lead of the Repco Supercars Championship, by two points over Brown, after the first of four races at the MSS Security Melbourne SuperSprint.

An aborted start meant the field was sent for an extra formation lap and hence race distance was reduced by one lap to 18.

That made for a slightly easier task for drivers in conserving their soft tyres, with no compulsory pit stops this weekend.

When the start finally did occur, De Pasquale bested pole-sitter Feeney from the other side of the front row and took a clear lead to the first corner.

However, De Pasquale handed it back at the next braking zone when he ran wide in the #11 Shell V-Power Mustang at Turn 3.

Brown (#87 Camaro) had settled into third but Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang) similarly gave up fourth to Percat (#10 Bendix Camaro) at the right-hander.

Mostert tried to reclaim the spot at Ascari and while he could not make a move stick there, he did at Turn 1 at the start of Lap 2.

However, a touch from Percat when they next arrived at Turn 13 put Mostert well wide and the #25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang dropped all the way to 13th.

Brown picked off De Pasquale at Turn 3 on Lap 4, by which time Car #11 was under investigation over its relatively rapid start.

It would be cleared, but Car #10 of Percat was assessed a five-second penalty for the driving infringement against Mostert.

Almost as soon as word of that sanction came through, Percat passed De Pasquale for third at Ascari on Lap 5, with Payne (#19 Mustang) following the Matt Stone Racing driver past the Dick Johnson Racing entry.

Cam Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang) relegated De Pasquale another spot, to sixth, on Lap 6 at Turn 1, before Payne went down the inside of Percat for third at Turn 3.

Mostert’s recovery continued when he too passed the #11 Mustang, on Lap 9 at Turn 3, while Feeney dropped a wheel off at Turn 8 but still managed to lead Brown by about 0.7s.

By the end of Lap 12, however, the two Triple Eight cars were nose-to-tail, while fifth-placed Waters set a new fastest lap of 1:49.7123s.

As the contest moved into its final five laps, there was talk on Brown’s radio about the prospect of engaging his team-mate in battle, as Payne lurked about a second back.

Come the end of Lap 15, though, Feeney had stretched his margin to a full second, and it was more than two seconds with a lap to go after the leader belted out a 1:49.5717s.

Both set personal bests on the 18th and final lap, Feeney a 1:49.5611s to Brown’s 1:49.8789s, with Payne third until he ran wide at Turn 13 on the final lap.

Percat went through, but it was of no consequence to the Grove Racing driver.

Mostert took the chequered flag fifth and thus inherited fourth, from Waters and Percat once the penalty was accounted for.

De Pasquale ended up seventh, from James Courtney (#7 Snowy River Caravans Mustang), Todd Hazelwood (#99 TFH Hire Camaro), and Jack Le Brocq (#9 TFH Hire Camaro).

Race 4 of the season, also scheduled for 19 laps, starts tomorrow at 14:55 local time/AEDT.

Results: Race 3, MSS Security Melbourne SuperSprint

Fastest lap (bonus): Broc Feeney, 1:49.5611s, Lap 18

Drivers’ championship

Teams’ championship