Feeney survives scare to set pace in Supercars Practice 2

The Red Bull Ampol Racing driver stepped over the edge of the track at Turn 8, the fast sweeper onto Lakeside Drive, but got away with it and would set a 1:47.4057s on his final lap of the half-hour session in the #88 Camaro.

Tickford Racing’s Waters, in a brand-new #6 Monster Energy Mustang, thus ended up second at 0.0026s adrift, with the Shell V-Power Racing Team’s Anton De Pasquale claiming third in the last session before qualifying at the Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix event at another 0.1268s back.

Waters had been quickest once the bulk of the field had set their first flyers in Practice 2, on a 1:47.8289s, with De Pasquale second on a 1:47.9409s.

Feeney had kept his powder dry in Practice 1, when he was 20th-fastest, and still had not clocked a representative lap time in Practice 2 until he moved to second on a 1:47.8461s on what was officially his third run.

Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang) set a new fastest lap of the day when he nailed a 1:47.4623s in the 14th minute, and the top three with 10 minutes to go was still he, Waters, and Feeney.

The latter then bumped the wall exiting the fast Turn 8 sweeper, but still opted to press on for another lap around the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit.

Once he was back to pit lane, Triple Eight Race Engineering reportedly determined that the damage was no worse than a buckled wheel, and some scratches on the left-rear corner of Car #88.

With around a minute to go, Waters went quickest with a 1:47.3083s and Brad Jones Racing’s Andre Heimgartner put the #8 R&J Batteries Camaro into second on a 1:47.4493s.

The chequered flag came out and Mostert set a new fastest first sector but could only manage a 1:47.5955s on that lap all-told, although that time was still better than 18 other drivers achieved in the session.

Feeney was given a fresh set of rubber and logged a 1:47.3057s to deny Waters bragging rights, with De Pasquale moving to third on an even later 1:47.4351s.

The rest of the top 10 was Heimgartner in fourth, from Mostert, Matt Payne (#19 Penrite Mustang), championship leader Will Brown (#87 Red Bull Ampol Camaro), David Reynolds (#20 Tradie Beer Mustang), Jack Le Brocq (#9 TFH Hire Camaro), and Mark Winterbottom (#18 DeWalt Camaro).

Qualifying for Race 3 at the MSS Security Melbourne SuperSprint starts at 15:10 local time/AEDT and will be followed immediately by Qualifying for Race 4.

Results: Practice 2