Broc Feeney has taken his first Dunlop Super2 Series race win as Triple Eight Race Engineering went one-two to open the 2021 season at Mount Panorama.
Feeney might have missed out on pole position and lost the start to team-mate Angelo Mouzouris but his race pace was superior and he never looked back after making the pass on Lap 4.
Mouzouris hung on for a career-best second position, greeting the chequered flag less than a tenth ahead of Image Racing’s Jordan Boys in a race which was shortened to eight laps due to dramas even before it had begun.
The first of those was for Tyler Everingham, who pulled off on the side of the main straight due to a clutch issue at the end of the formation lap.
With the #27 MW Motorsport Nissan Altima having to be towed away, the field was sent for another slow tour of Mount Panorama, but Super3 competitor Steven Page (#2 Eggleston Motorsport VE Commodore) then had to also be pushed off the grid.
When the real action finally got going, Mouzouris (#10 VF Commodore) blazed away from first position on the grid and took a clear lead into Hell Corner, from Feeney (#888 VF Commodore), Boys (#49 VF Commodore), Jayden Ojeda (#31 MWM Nissan Altima), and Matt McLean (#54 Eggleston VF Commodore).
The latter came under pressure from an also fast-starting Aaron Seton up Mountain Straight, but Seton was hung wide at Griffins Bend and instead ceded sixth to Zak Best.
Mouzouris straight-lined The Esses on Lap 2 as he came under pressure from the pack which had formed behind him.
Best was an obvious beneficiary of the bottling up of the field, passing both Ojeda and McLean when they went three-wide as Lap 2 became Lap 3 to take up fourth in the #78 Tickford Racing FGX Falcon.
McLean was a net unchanged fifth while Ojeda dropped two spots in the kerfuffle after those two hit exiting Hell Corner.
Mouzouris was still being hounded by Feeney when he went defensive at Murray’s Corner at the end of Lap 3, which gave his team-mate the run for Hell Corner and an easy pass for the lead.
The 2019 Super3 Series winner wasted little time in gapping the 2019 Australian Formula Ford title winner, clocking back-to-back fastest laps on Laps 5 and 6 to be almost two seconds to the good.
Feeney was 2.3s up at the start of the eighth and final lap, a cut of four laps due to time-certainty, and duly delivered Triple Eight’s first win in Super2 since 2012.
Mouzouris managed to keep Boys at bay in the battle for the minor placings, while Best finished fourth.
Ojeda came at McLean at The Chase on Lap 5 and the latter chose to sidestep a serious fight for fifth position.
McLean therefore ran sixth for the remainder of the contest, with the top 10 rounded out by Matt Chahda (#18 Matt Chahda Motorsport FGX Falcon), Josh Fife (#28 MWM Altima), Declan Fraser (#777 MWM Altima), and Jaylyn Robotham (#999 Image VF Commodore).
Zane Morse (#11 Zane Morse Racing VF Commodore) was 11th, ahead of Super3 class winner Jon McCorkindale (#69 Mac Motorsport FG Falcon).
Seton was running seventh when his #30 Matt Stone Racing VF Commodore lost power and he retired to pit lane.
Feeney’s series lead is 12 points over Mouzouris at this early stage, with Qualifying for Race 2 starting tomorrow at 09:30 local time/AEDT.
Results: Race 1
Pos | Num | Team/Sponsor | Driver | Car | Cls | Laps | Race time |
1 | 888 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Broc Feeney | Holden Commodore VF | S2 | 8 | 17:15.8343 |
2 | 10 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Angelo Mouzouris | Holden Commodore VF | S2 | 8 | 17:18.9856 |
3 | 49 | Image Racing / Joss Group | Jordan Boys | Holden Commodore VF | S2 | 8 | 17:19.0850 |
4 | 78 | Best Leisure Industries | Zak Best | Ford Falcon FG/X | S2 | 8 | 17:20.1331 |
5 | 31 | Jayco / MWM | Jayden Ojeda | Nissan Altima | S2 | 8 | 17:21.3548 |
6 | 54 | Eggleston Motorsport | Matthew McLean | Holden Commodore VF | S2 | 8 | 17:23.7823 |
7 | 18 | Cavalier Homes | Matthew Chahda | Ford Falcon FG/X | S2 | 8 | 17:25.9420 |
8 | 28 | Natural Gas and Water / MWM | Josh Fife | Nissan Altima | S2 | 8 | 17:26.7936 |
9 | 777 | Oz Property / MWM | Declan Fraser | Nissan Altima | S2 | 8 | 17:28.6340 |
10 | 999 | Image Racing / Rare Spares | Jaylyn Robotham | Holden Commodore VF | S2 | 8 | 17:29.2186 |
11 | 11 | Brema Group Racing | Zane Morse | Holden Commodore VF | S2 | 8 | 17:32.5988 |
12 | 69 | Dial Before You Dig | Jon McCorkindale | Ford Falcon FG | CH | 8 | 17:44.9551 |
13 | 77 | Mr HDT Race Cars | Blake Fardell | Holden Commodore VE | CH | 8 | 17:50.1967 |
14 | 38 | Eggleston Motorsport | Jack Sipp | Holden Commodore VF | S2 | 8 | 17:52.2183 |
15 | 67 | Flash Bush Motorsport | Nash Morris | Ford Falcon FG | CH | 8 | 18:01.4423 |
16 | 22 | Herron Todd White Valuers | Bradley Neill | Holden Commodore VF | S2 | 8 | 18:02.2003 |
17 | 75 | Linc Scsffolding | Brendan Strong | Holden Commodore VE | SC3 | 8 | 18:02.4769 |
18 | 61 | Image Racing | Reef McCarthy | Ford Falcon FG | CH | 8 | 18:02.8611 |
19 | 5 | Anderson Motorsport | Michael Anderson | Ford Falcon FG | SC3 | 8 | 18:11.7119 |
20 | 35 | Unit Racing | Jason Gomersall | Ford Falcon FG | SC3 | 8 | 18:16.2110 |
21 | 23 | R.H.M | Ray Hislop | Ford Falcon BA | SC3 | 8 | 18:21.2784 |
22 | 7 | Mocomm Motorsport Comms | Jim Pollicina | Holden Commodore VE | SC3 | 8 | 18:31.5657 |
23 | 4 | Crusher Parts International | Tony Auddino | Ford Falcon BF | SC3 | 8 | 18:38.1328 |
24 | 17 | Resurrection Panel N Paint | Jason Foley | Ford Falcon BF | SC3 | 8 | 18:42.4531 |
NC | 30 | Matt Stone Racing | Aaron Seton | Holden Commodore VF | S2 | 5 | 19:57.5779 |
NC | 27 | Lowes Petoleum / MWM | Tyler Everingham | Nissan Altima | S2 | ||
NC | 2 | Page Bros Jayco | Steven Page | Holden Commodore VE2 | SC3 |
Series points: Super2
Pos | Driver | Pts |
1 | Broc Feeney | 150 |
2 | Angelo Mouzouris | 138 |
3 | Jordan Boys | 129 |
4 | Zak Best | 120 |
5 | Jayden Ojeda | 111 |
6 | Matthew McLean | 102 |
7 | Matthew Chahda | 96 |
8 | Josh Fife | 90 |
9 | Declan Fraser | 84 |
10 | Jaylyn Robotham | 78 |
11 | Zane Morse | 72 |
12 | Jack Sipp | 69 |
13 | Bradley Neill | 66 |
14 | Aaron Seton | 63 |
15 | Tyler Everingham | 0 |