Feeney wins as Triple Eight romps to Darwin one-two

Just 1.2255s separated the #88 and #87 Camaros after 48 laps around Hidden Valley Raceway, with Erebus Motorsport’s Brodie Kostecki completing the podium in Race 12 of the Repco Supercars Championship at another 16.2003s further back.

James Golding, Nick Percat, and Jack Le Brocq made for an all-Chevrolet top six, with Shell V-Power Racing Team team-mates Will Davison and Anton De Pasquale next to greet the chequered flag in their Fords.

Rounding out the top 10 were Cameron Hill and Richie Stanaway, with Cam Waters finishing 15th, Chaz Mostert 16th, Matt Payne 20th, and Andre Heimgartner a lap down in 21st after a wild incident on Lap 1.

While Feeney scored 150 points for the win, his second of the Betr Darwin Triple Crown weekend, Brown picked up 143 including five for the fastest lap.

The latter’s drivers’ championship lead over his team-mate is thus only trimmed to 108, while Triple Eight Race Engineering’s teams’ championship lead has blown out to 920 points, with Walkinshaw Andretti United still second.

When the start lights went out, Feeney took a clear lead to the first corner from pole position with Brown jumping into second place from the inside of the second row, ahead of Kostecki (#1 Camaro).

The Safety Car was called before the end of the standing lap due to an incident at Turn 5, with Heimgartner’s R&J Batteries Camaro climbing onto the roof of wildcard Cooper Murray’s Supercheap Auto Camaro on the cusp of the top 10.

Feeney led from Brown, Kostecki, Le Brocq (#9 Tyrepower Camaro), Golding (#31 Nulon Camaro), Hill (#4 Dabble Camaro), Davison (#17 Mustang), Tim Slade (#23 Nulon Camaro), De Pasquale (#11 Mustang), and Percat (#10 Bendix Camaro) in 10th.

Heimgartner pitted and resumed on the lead lap after the Brad Jones Racing crew checked over Car #8, while Murray spent several laps in the pits so Triple Eight could throw race tape all over Car #888 although the extent of the mechanical damage was reportedly limited to a little bit of left-hand down in the steering.

The incident was investigated but No Further Action was the decision which came a short time later.

The restart on Lap 4 was a mess down the back of the field, with cars spraying to avoid (major) contact after the yellow flags were withdrawn late.

Up the front, Feeney quickly skipped to a 1.5s lead over Brown, who had stretched his margin over Kostecki to three seconds on Lap 16.

Meanwhile, Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang) was up to 15th from 20th on the grid, Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang) ran 18th, Payne (#19 Penrite Mustang) was 20th after a pit lane start necessitated to fix a fuel pressure issue, and Heimgartner was 22nd.

Brown had reduced Feeney’s lead to less than a second on Lap 20, by which time the pit stop cycle had kicked off.

Golding had been unable to find a way by Le Brocq but when they pitted together, he jumped Car #9 by taking only working side tyres on his PremiAir Racing entry whereas Erebus changed all four.

Kostecki pitted from six seconds away from the lead on Lap 24 for four fresh tyres as Brown closed to half a second behind Feeney.

The leader was into the lane on Lap 25 for a four-tyre stop, and then Brown did likewise on Lap 28, leaving just a handful to take their compulsory service.

Payne pitted from the official lead on Lap 31, at which time he had to serve a 15-second hold after turning Ryan Wood (#2 Mobil 1 Truck Assist Mustang) around earlier in the race.

That put Feeney back into top spot, with a margin of 2.7s to Brown, then Kostecki, Golding, Percat, Le Brocq, Hill, Davison, Richie Stanaway (#26 Penrite Mustang), and De Pasquale, with Waters 16th and Mostert 19th after it appeared to be a slow pit stop for the #25 Mustang.

Heimgartner was 18th but would soon take his CPS, his third visit to the lane after the post-incident stop and then a drive-through penalty for speeding under Safety Car, a breach for which Murray would also be pinged.

Already, Wood and Aaron Love (#3 CoolDrive Mustang) had been slapped with drive-throughs for passing before the control line upon the restart.

Brown cut Feeney’s margin to less than two seconds on Lap 36, and less than one second on Lap 43 of 48.

He looked to put the hammer down but Feeney responded and pushed the lead back beyond a full second on Lap 45, at which point the contest was effectively over.

Le Brocq held off the Dick Johnson Racing Mustangs in the battle for sixth while Waters gained one spot after the pit stop cycle to take the chequered flag in 15th, one position up on Mostert.

Murray did make the finish, six laps down in 25th position in the 25-car field.

The next event is the NTI Townsville 500, at the Reid Park Street Circuit, on July 5-7.

Results: Race 12, Betr Darwin Triple Crown

Fastest lap (bonus): Will Brown, 1:07.6126s, Lap 35

Drivers’ championship

Teams’ championship