Waters and Feeney take vital AusGP poles at the death

Broc Feeney and Cameron Waters will start on pole races 3 and 4 of the Supercars season respectively after nailing clutch laps.

The pair left it late but were able to steal fastest lap honours in the high adrenaline, back to back 15 minute qualifying sessions at Albert Park.

The fight for the first pole at the Melbourne SuperSprint went down to the very last lap.

Chaz Mostert led the majority of the session and was poised for pole, only for both Feeney and Anton De Pasquale to go faster.

Feeney snatched pole by rising from last to first by posting a 1:47.7148.

In the second session Ford got revenge by pulling off the same trick on Triple Eight itself.

Will Brown led teammate Feeney into the final minutes but Waters nailed an impressive 1:47.4916, making the most of his new chassis.

The stage is set for the opening race of the Melbourne SuperSprint at 17.50 AEDT.

Qualifying race 3

Broc Feeney saved until the very end to snare a third straight pole for Triple Eight. Image: Rebecca Hind/Revved Photography

A total of 14 of the 24 cars cut laps at the drop of the green flag including both Tickford, MSR, Erebus and DJR cars, while Triple Eight stayed in the garage.

De Pasquale and Randle nailed their opening laps, being four tenths clear of the rest.

It was the DJR driver who got top spot with a 1:48.3681, just 0.07s ahead of Randle.

Cameron Hill was hurt by a kerb strike, while James Courtney also threw away his lap by finding the grass at turn 8.

Rookie Ryan Wood found top gear on his third lap by putting the #2 into P3.

Stanaway and Fullwood bided their time until the halfway mark and it paid off.

The pair went straight to the top of the timesheets with Stanaway on top despite getting loose at the final corner.

However, the Kiwi’s time in P1 was short lived as Mostert became the first into the 1m47s window at the nine minute mark.

Payne came close to knocking off his teammate from second, but was still a tenth and a half away from Mostert.

Meanwhile, Triple Eight left everything to the last minute with Brown pulling out of his opening flyer.

When the two Camaros left the lane for the final time, cars #87 and #88 sat 21st and 22nd respectively.

Once again Winterbottom found the grass on the exit of turn 8

As the final flurry of laps took place, the top two watched on in the lane as many tried to knock them off.

The likes of Brown, Waters and Percat all improved but fell just short.

However, Feeney had the knockout blow, nailing a 1:47.7148 to surge from last to first.

The lap proved to be the class of the field, being two and half tenths ahead of Mostert, while De Pasquale split them to take second.

Will Brown, Matt Payne, Nick Percat, Cam Waters, Richie Stanaway, Bryce Fullwood and Todd Hazelwood will also start from the top 10 in the opening Supercars race at Albert Park. 

Qualifying race 4

There was some early drama with Macauley Jones and Tom Randle being hit by early kerb strikes, as David Reynolds skated off at the penultimate corner.

Fewer cars attacked straight away as Fullwood led the way with a 1:48.2039.

Ryan Wood pushed hard in his #2 Mustang to come within 0.09s and beat the likes of Winterbottom, Waters and Davison.

Matt Payne waited until the halfway mark of the session to have a crack and it paid off.

The young Kiwi used all the road on the exit of turn 12 and went four tenths clear of Fullwood with an impressive 1:47.7609.

At that stage he was by far the only driver in the 1m47s window.

Once again the Triple Eight cars did not hit the track in anger until the final six minutes.

For a second session in a row it proved to be the right move as both cars #87 and #88 flew to the top of the leaderboard.

Brown won the bragging rights by just 0.04s as the pair were a tenth clear of Payne.

Le Brocq was also a big improver joining them in the 1m47s club, followed by Mostert.

Another Triple Eight pole looked certain, only for Waters to complete a near perfect lap.

The Monster Mustang pilot strung together a 1:47.4916, to go a tenth clear of the Red Bulls inside the final two minutes.

Any hope of further improvement was hurt by both PremiAir Nulon Racing Camaros that secretly rotated at turn 3.

Slade was the first, going wide and finding the gravel on corner exit, while Golding joined his teammate on the inside of the track after also coming unstuck departing the right hander.

Winterbottom did a solid job to put his #18 on the second row ahead of Payne, De Pasquale and Le Brocq.

Qualifying race 3 results

Qualifying race 4 results

Supercars Australian Grand Prix schedule

Thursday, March 21

Practice 1: 1: M. Jones 2: M. Payne 3: C. Waters

Practice 2: 13.25-13.55

Qualifying R3: 15.10-15.25

Qualifying R4: 15.35-15.50

Race 3 (20 laps): 17.50-18.35

Friday, March 22

Race 4 (20 laps): 14.50-15.35

Saturday, March 23

Qualifying R5: 09.00-09.15

Qualifying R6: 09.25-09.40

Race 5 (14 laps): 17.35-18.10

Sunday, March 24

Race 6 (14 laps): 10.20-10.55

Don’t forget the latest issue of Auto Action available via subscription here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ – the only place you’ll get to read the full story. For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine.