The then-20-year-old earned plaudits from factory Mercedes drivers when he put the #888 AMG GT3 on the front row of the grid with what would have been a new qualifying lap record if not for Maro Engel.
His GT3 experience at the time was just the previous year’s Bathurst 12 Hour and two rounds in Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS, but Feeney is now a regular in Triple Eight’s Mercedes-AMG programme in Asia, so long as Supercars commitments allow.
Last year at Mount Panorama, though, the team’s Pro class trio of Feeney/Shane van Gisbergen/Maximilian Gotz finished a somewhat underwhelming fifth after lacking race pace and incurring a drive-through penalty during the 12 hours.
This time around, he is sharing Car #888 with new Supercars team-mate Will Brown and Canadian Mikael Grenier, and believes they can be genuinely in the fight for victory on the Sunday afternoon at Bathurst.
“Especially in 2022 [Bathurst 12 Hour], I was pretty fresh to the car – I think I’d only done a couple of days in it – but last year was good,” said Feeney.
“We qualified second, but we just struggled a little bit in the race. Hopefully this year we can be in contention come the end of the race.
“I’ve got a lot more experience in these cars now – I did the Asian GT [World Challenge] championship last year and the Asian Le Mans championship as well – so I feel a little bit more comfortable.
“Still not doing 30 races like these Euro guys but I feel a little bit more comfortable in these cars and hopefully we can hit the ground running once we get there.”
Brown has one Bathurst 12 Hour start in a GT3 under his belt, which so happened to also be in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 in 2022, and two in a MARC Car, while Grenier has clocked up years in multiple generations of that car in IMSA, DTM, and Triple Eight’s GT World Challenge programme.
Feeney added, “[Brown] knows how to drive cars fast, he’s shown that plenty of times. I’ve had a bit of experience, so if there’s anything I can do in any way, shape, or form, I will, but he’ll be fine.
“But, having Mik Grenier onboard as well, he’s probably the guy that will be giving out some pointers.
“He’s a factory driver, he’s done a lot of races in his time, and I’ve worked with him before and he’s going to be awesome to work with.”
The 2024 Bathurst 12 Hour takes place from February 16-18.
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