Feeney takes wild Aus GP opener

Triple Eight is back on top thanks to a dominant Broc Feeney, who was a calm presence amid the chaos in a frantic Melbourne SuperSprint opener.

Feeney led all 18 laps to lead home teammate Will Brown as Triple Eight ended Tickford’s run with a crushing 1-2.

There were also big cheers in the MSR garage as Cameron Hill enjoyed a clean and untroubled journey to a maiden Supercars podium.

Whilst the top three ran unchanged throughout, it was anything but behind with battles everywhere and even the wildlife making a cameo appearance.

Brodie Kostecki held off Ryan Wood for fourth, while championship leader Cameron Waters soared to sixth despite starting down in 22nd.

He somehow kept his nose clean amid all the wheel to wheel combat in a critical drive.

All 23 cars finished, but the majority carried plenty of battle scars.

The race began without James Courtney as BRT fell heartbreakingly short of repairing the #7 Mustang in time following the heavy practice 2 crash.

When the lights went out under sunny skies Feeney enjoyed a fast start as Brown settled into second.

Hill held off Jack Le Brocq for third, while Richie Stanaway got a fast start, soaring around the outside of the opening corner to jump two spots and soar into the top five.

Further back another Kiwi was the biggest opening lap mover in Wood, who rose four spots to 13th.

Up front Feeney was in control and had already pulled a second on the field after the opening lap.

However, a third of that advantage was slashed due to the unexpected sight of wildlife on the exit of Turn 10.

The fast right hander became a duck crossing with six waddling across the track, but thankfully they left just enough of a gap for the field to sneak past on the racing line.

On Lap 4 Kostecki was the first to launch an attack, making a dive-bomb on Stanaway, who soon slipped from fourth to sixth with Payne also sneaking past.

The DJR driver made the move at Turn 12, which soon became a hot spot.

Rookies Cameron and Allen made wheel to wheel contact and survived.

Meanwhile, De Pasquale dropped out of the top 10 after he was hung out to dry across the double right hander, but he battled hard.

It was also a favourite passing spot as some wild racing took place deep in the pack.

At the centre of it were the Tickford teammates, who were tearing their way through the field.

Waters, Randle, Reynolds, Davison and Heimgartner were in a fierce fight, with at least one driver making a move at almost every corner.

It all kicked off on Lap 7 which began with Waters bumping Reynolds out the way as the #20 dropped from 14th to 18th.

Meanwhile, behind them Allen spun and whacked the outside wall after losing a side by side battle with Macauley Jones at the final corner.

By the time the angry pack arrived at Turn 3, the five battling cars were all in combat with Waters and Reynolds side by side, while were the rest were three wide behind them and somehow they all stayed on track, but two others could not further back.

Jones and Cameron escorted each other into the sand and the BRT rookie got stuck, sparking a Safety Car, which allowed everyone a chance to catch their breath.

The race resumed with 10 laps remaining and Feeney immediately resumed control as few made a move.

But things did not take long to escalate as the fight for sixth erupted.

Stanaway and Mostert sparked the battle before Wood sent it at Turn 4 and caught them all off guard to snare sixth all to himself with De Pasquale following through.

The action only got more willing with Le Brocq spinning from fourth, while Golding whacked the Turn 10 tyre bundle and dropped away as a result.

Two corners later Murray, Stanaway and Mostert tried to go three wide and all that did was send the #62 skating off.

All this action parted the seas for Waters, who barged Percat out of the way to snare eighth, while De Pasquale fought back from his early drama to be seventh.

Finally the angry gaggle of cars settled down for the final third of the race, only for Murray to rotate coming out of Turn 3.

Payne had strong late race pace for a brief moment and snared fourth from Kostecki.

But two laps later Kostecki fought back and Wood ran shotgun as Payne suddenly slipped to seventh behind De Pasquale by the end of the lap.

The WAU youngster looked very racey and had a number of looks, but could not find a way past the DJR driver.

The battle for the lead was also brewing as on this occasion Feeney was struggling to shake off Brown and the Bulls were nose to tail with five laps remaining.

But Brown faded and dropped a second during the closing stages with the race being reduced by two laps.

It was once again a fine example of why Supercars sprint racing just works at Albert Park.

And the best bit is we get to do it three more times this weekend with the next 19 lapper at 14.45 AEDT Friday.

Image: Rebecca Hind/Revved Photography

Supercars Round 2 Melbourne SuperSprint Race 4 results

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