Feeney takes Super2 pole as Mouzouris, Morris crash

Broc Feeney has claimed pole for Race 1 of the Dunlop Super2 Series at Bathurst as Triple Eight team-mate Angelo Mouzouris and Super3 class leader Nash Morris had separate crashes.

Mouzouris had a heavy impact with the wall on the run to Forrest’s Elbow after he glanced the wall on drivers’ right in extremely similar fashion to that which Chaz Mostert experienced in 2015.

The #6 VF Commodore came to a halt just on the exit of the Elbow, triggering a red flag with less than a minute to go and thus preventing anyone in Super2 from getting in a green tyre lap.

The incident locked the sister #888 Triple Eight Race Engineering VF Commodore into top spot in Qualifying for Race 1, with series leader Feeney to be joined on the front row tomorrow by MW Motorsport’s Jayden Ojeda.

Earlier, Morris junior lost the rear of his #67 FG Falcon as he turned into the kink on a flying lap midway through the 20-minute session, spinning into the wall on drivers’ right.

The Flash Bush Motorsport entry made frontal and left-rear contact with the concrete before coming to rest in the gravel trap and drawing the first red flag.

“He’s okay,” reported father/team manager and 2014 Bathurst 1000 winner Paul Morris.

“[The car] doesn’t look too bad, actually; just sort of wiped the nose and wiped the rear a bit.

“I think he was probably a bit wide on the entry, got out a bit wide and maybe a little bit of dirt on the tyres, and around it went.”

Under sunny skies at Mount Panorama, Tickford Racing’s Zak Best (#78 FGX Falcon) was fastest after the first flyers on a 2:07.1801s, less than a tenth of a second up on Feeney.

The latter went quicker next time around with a 2:06.3978s while Ojeda, who locked the rears and ran off at The Chase on his first hot lap, put the #31 Nissan Altima second on a 2:06.7897s.

The front-runners were either in or on their way back to the pits when Morris, who was fastest of the Super3 class at the time, drew the red flag.

The third-tier contingent was parked for the rest of the session, per an earlier plan to give the Super2 field clear track for the final five minutes, and it was just under five minutes that they would have prior to the chequered flag once proceedings resumed.

Only the Triple Eight duo got out quick enough to give themselves a chance of two late flyers, but that became a moot point when Mouzouris came to grief on the descent between The Dipper and Forrest’s Elbow.

Behind Feeney and Ojeda on the will be Image Racing’s Jordan Boys (#49 VF Commodore), who set a 2:06.7980s, and Best on a 2:06.8329s.

Mouzouris was fifth until he lost his best lap due to the red flag, meaning it will be Grove Racing’s Matt Payne (#10 Nissan Altima) on the inside of Row 3, alongside MW Motorsport’s Tyler Everingham (#27 Nissan Altima).

The rest of the top 10 is Aaron Seton (#30 Matt Stone Racing VF Commodore), Mouzouris, Jaylyn Robotham (#999 Image Racing VF Commodore), and Josh Fife (#38 Eggleston Motorsport VF Commodore).

Matt McLean (#54 VF Commodore), top rookie in the standings, was 11th and Eggleston team-mate Tim Blanchard (#88 VF Commodore) 12th.

The Super2 field is down to 15 after Declan Fraser’s big crash in the #777 MW Motorsport Nissan Altima in Practice 2.

Blake Fardell (#77 Blake Fardell VE Commodore) was classified fastest in Super3 in 16th outright on a 2:11.5775s after Morris lost his best lap, a 2:11.1781s for causing the red flag.

Morris ended up 17th on the 2:11.9496s which he reverted to, from Michael Anderson (#5 Anderson Motorsport FG Falcon), while Image Racing title contender Reef McCathy (#61 FG Falcon) did not set a lap time.

Racing is not until Friday, with Qualifying for Race 2 of Round 5 coming up today at 15:10 local time/AEDT.

Results: Qualifying for Race 1