The Red Bull Ampol Racing star stunned in his first competitive open-wheel outing, going earlier than anyone else in Q3 to get clear air and set his best lap with several minutes to spare.
The pilot of the #93 car set a 1:29.032s to pip his Supercars teammate Brown by a meagre 0.154s, who clocked a 1:29.186s on the figure-eight course.
Australia’s Patrick Heuzenroeder was the surprise packet of the session. He qualifed third with a time 0.184s away from the pole position lap.
Earlier in qualifying, Heuzenroeder topped Q1 to put himself on pole position for Race 1 of the weekend ahead of Arvid Lindblad and Brown.
Championship leader Lindblad was uncharacteristically off the pace in Q3, only qualifying fifth for the grand prix. New Zealand’s Zack Scoular was ahead of him in fourth.
Shawn Rashid, Nikita Johnson, and Jett Bowling rounded out the top eight.
“My heart rate is about 300 beats right now,” said a beaming Feeney.
“That was awesome. I knew I just had to get to Q3. I’m normally a guy that builds up quite a bit.
“I thought I did a pretty decent lap. I was just thinking for the rest of it don’t spray it and cause a red flag.
“I’m absolutely chuffed. I can’t thank MTEC and Bruin [Beasley] enough for bringing me here and everyone who’s supported me to get here.
“This is unreal. Qualifying is a lot here and to be on pole for the grand prix in my first time is pretty bloody awesome.”
Speaking about the decision to set his fastest lap early in Q3, Feeney said his Triple Eight race engineer Martin Short played the perfect hand.
“We’ve been going out about 30 seconds after everyone just for clear track,” he said.
“It’s pretty chaotic out there on the warm-up laps and we quickly ran over the double-checked the rules and we went straight to the front [of the queue].
“We knew. Marty, my engineer, he’s a guru, and he knew if we waited we’d miss a lap.
“We went out early, got the lap done, and I could just focus on everything myself. We didn’t have to look at anyone else or slow down for anyone else. I’m absolutely chuffed. I can’t believe it.
“Pretty wild. Honestly, these things are crazy. It’s bloody hard work out there. I nearly had about 500 crashes in that session. I’m stoked. I’m having heaps of fun.”
Feeney will begin the first race of the weekend out of seventh where he said he’ll have to make the most of his start.
“I need to learn how to do a start in these next two races so I can smoke Will off the line,” he laughed.
Race 1 of the weekend gets underway at 2:28pm AEDT.
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