The Supercars star admits he’s “a bit underprepared” for his first mission with the Blue Oval, which enters the event with a single Mustang GT3.
Run by German outfit Haupt Racing Team, the American muscle car will be co-driven by former Bathurst 12 Hour winners Chris Mies and Dennis Olsen.
Feeney already has five Bathurst 12 Hour starts to his name – the last four of which have come in GT3 machinery, including a last-minute Audi effort 12 months ago.
“I won’t drive the car until practice, so I’m a little bit underprepared in that sense, but I was the same last year and we were really competitive,” Feeney told Speedcafe.
“I think HRT, of all the GT teams I’ve driven with, has probably been the most similar to Triple Eight in the way they prepare and the information that I’ve got beforehand.
“We did a proper pre-brief meeting, which is pretty easy to skip for GT, but Ford’s putting a lot of effort into this and it’s been cool to see that.
“Obviously, it’s hard for me not knowing anything about the car, but I’ll drive it as fast as I can and hopefully it’s alright.”
Feeney had hoped to prepare for the event on Ford’s state-of-the-art simulator during his recent holiday in the United States, but it was not to be.
“I nearly ended up going to Charlotte to do some GT3 some stuff, but it was the week before Daytona, so they were all doing their Daytona prep,” he said.
“It would have been cool to go and drive it on the sim. The most scary part for me learning a new GT car is like, how do I get out of pit lane? How do I use all these buttons?
“The driving is the driving, I can figure that out, but it’s just about all the little stuff that you’ve got to try and wrap your head around.
“It would have been good to do some sim for that, but I was too short of time. I was already over there probably longer than I should have been before the start of the season.”
Feeney has starred at the 12 Hour in previous campaigns aboard Mercedes and Audi equipment.
Asked if the 12 Hour is a nice way to enter the 2026 season following the heartbreak of last year’s Supercars finale, Feeney said: “I always just like having an event before Round 1.
“Like, 12 hour always falls before Round 1, which is good, but it’s just good to get your eye in before you go racing again.
“I’ve done a fair few days at Norwell, I drove the Trans Am car, and I did not feel rusty at all when I got back in the car, which was really good because I haven’t normally had that big of a break.
“It’s not so much about [what happened in Adelaide] last year and more about doing a race before Round 1.”
The 2026 Supercars Championship kicks off at Sydney Motorsport Park next weekend.
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