Feeney gets revenge on Payne as Courtney scores BRT breakthrough
The 100th Supercars race at Wanneroo delivered some late drama as Broc Feeney clung onto victory, while James Courtney produced something special.
Feeney had dominated the majority of the 83-lap race, but it was turned on its head by a Lap 62 Safety Car for a stranded Cooper Murray.
Payne and Courtney used the stoppage to their advantage to gain significant track position and a relatively quiet race turned into a thrilling 15-lap sprint.
After their historic photo finish in Tasmania, Feeney and Payne were once again battling for victory on Sunday.
The roles were reversed this time, and Feeney held on by half a second to complete a perfect day, having topped qualifying and the shootout.
But the biggest cheers were in the BRT garage as Courtney was reduced to tears by giving the battling team a first podium in its 132nd race.
That was just some of the drama as Ryan Wood and James Golding took themselves out of contention at Turn 5.
But Feeney was away from the field the entire time and emphatically scored a fourth win in six starts.
“That was awesome,” Feeney said.
“Just executed the start and managed the race. It was probably going to be smooth sailing until the Safety Car.
“Matt was super quick at the end, but our car was great at managing the tyres.
“He got one on me last time, so it was good to get one on him this time.”
There were issues even before the race began, with Cameron Hill unable to start the formation lap due to a battery issue.
It was a big blow for the MSR driver who missed out on the chance to start from eighth and did not hit the track until Lap 9.
When the lights went out, Feeney added the latest reason to his perfect day by getting an ideal launch to enjoy a clear run through Turn 1.
By the end of the opening lap, Feeney was already eight tenths up the road ahead of Waters.
The only position change on the first lap was Payne jumping Brown for third.
But the racing soon got wild with Reynolds falling four places from fifth to ninth in the one lap after a touch with Golding.
The fight for fourth got even hairier when Golding launched his latest attack on Brown.
His big dive forced the reigning champion to the run off, which presented an opportunity for Wood, who tried to slip beneath them both.
Suddenly, there were three wide going down the pit straight with Wood having three-quarters of his car in the dirt and forced to give way.
Somehow, they all stayed straight, and the aggressive racing paid off for Golding as he eventually won the position, only for Wood to pass both Camaros in the following laps.
Like Saturday, Mostert made early ground from his lowly grid spot and rose to 10th before being one of the first to pit on Lap 18.
Payne followed from third a lap later with the Mustang runners looking to utilise fresh air and tyres, but the Grove Racing driver was hurt by a slow-changing right rear tyre.
Erebus’ crew had some extra work at the pit with Le Brocq’s passenger door waving to the crowd and he received a mechanical black flag.
Feeney build a comfortable 2s lead over Waters until Tickford blinked first and boxed their man on Lap 26, rejoining just ahead of the undercutting Wood.
Broc Feeney took charge from the start. Image: Peter Norton
Triple Eight responded a lap later and maintained track position despite taking an extra second of fuel.
This brought the top three nose to tail for a moment, but Feeney held on.
In effective fourth Golding and Brown found themselves even closer.
The PremiAir Camaro rejoined ahead of the Triple Eight driver, who launched a late-braking dive at the bottom of the hill.
But Golding covered and did not shunt the door quick enough to avoid contact.
The pair spent the entire braking area linked nose to tail and they somehow avoided disaster.
In the end Golding was forced off and not only lost position to Brown, but also Mostert.
Brown questioned Golding’s movement under braking, but the stewards gave the clash the all clear.
A similar incident happened at Kolb Corner between Evans and Cameron.
The BRT driver locked up and could not avoid punting the Kiwi for a tour of the sand and received a 15s penalty.
On seven-lap fresher tyres Golding picked off Mostert with ease and hunted down Brown for the second instalment.
Golding made a deeper and later dive at the same turn, but could not make it stick as Brown performed the crisscross.
This brought De Pasquale into the picture as he reeled them in on 10-lap fresher tyres and things settled down.
There was much less commotion in the contest for second as Wood flew past Waters down the hill.
Thinfgs settled down as teams played strategy games in the mid part of the race with Allen doing a mega opening stint.
Fullwood found himself in the wars, going off at Kolb before clashwith Cameron at the first corner and sending the rookie into the sand.
Feeney built a significant 5s lead over Waters and Brown, who followe each other into the lane on Lap 62.
The #88 responded instantly and he retained track position, 2s clear of Wood, who undercut Waters.
The pit stop cycle was completed moments before the first Safety Car arrived due to a stationary Cooper Murray on Lap 63.
For the second time in the weekend, Murray had an issue at Kolb Corner and this time he was stuck on the inside after the engine seized.
The biggest beneficiaries were Payne and Courtney, who enjoyed a free kick for their final stops.
Both Mustangs jumped significantly with Payne and Courtney slotting into second and fourth, respectively.
The stoppage brought the race to life as a 15-lap sprint to the finish erupted.
Wood found himself swamped at the restart coming down the hill with Courtney, Waters and Golding all pushing their way past.
It promoted the BRT driver to the podium as Wood shuffled down to sixth.
Impressively, Courtney was not able to snare third, but also consolidate the position by pulling 2s on Waters.
It was for the best as behind the Monster Mustang things were kicking off.
Golding and Wood attempted to dance through the esses from Turns 1 to 5 side by side, but after multiple whacks, it was never going to work.
The pair rubbed doors and escorted themselves off into the paddock at the end of Turn 5, seeing them fall from podium contention to the back with significant steering damage.
Golding needed two laps to simply get back to the lane, and he was adjudged to be at fault on the inside.
Meanwhile, Wood was stuck in no man’s land and endured a long, lonely walk back home.
This contest also allowed the top two to charge away to the tune of 2s as the Feeney and Payne rivalry reignited.
The roles were reversed from Tasmania and this time Feeney was determined not to be on the wrong side of history.
Despite Payne having fresher tyres, Feeney always ensured there was half a second up his sleeve to deny the Grove Racing Kiwi a late assault.
A perfect Sunday further strengthened Feeney’s grip on the lead of the Sprint Cup standings.
Courtney also held on for a historic podium ahead of Waters and Brown.
Mostert was sixth over Reynolds, while Allen and Heimgartner produced some storming drives from the back to eighth and 10th respectively.
De Pasquale was a late hard-luck story, losing a top-six position in the final laps due to mechanical dramas.
Feeney’s success has extended his Sprint Cup lead from 27 points to 76 ahead of the Darwin Triple Crown on June 20-22.
Results Race 16 83 Laps Wanneroo
Pos Driver Team Laps Time
1 Broc Feeney Triple Eight 83 01:23:13.1653 –
2 Matt Payne Grove Racing 83 +0.5671 +2
3 James Courtney BRT 83 +5.2550 +10
4 Cameron Waters Tickford 83 +6.8634 -2
5 Will Brown Triple Eight 83 +9.0912 -2
6 Chaz Mostert WAU 83 +11.3138 +8
7 David Reynolds Team 18 83 +12.6289 -2
8 Kai Allen Grove Racing 83 +13.1094 +15
9 Thomas Randle Tickford 83 +13.8683 +2
10 Andre Heimgartner BJR 83 +14.0944 +12
11 Brodie Kostecki DJR 83 +16.0313 +4
12 Jaxon Evans BJR 83 +16.8759 +13
13 Macauley Jones BJR 83 +18.3669 +8
14 Richie Stanaway PremiAir 83 +18.9823 +5
15 Jack Le Brocq Erebus 83 +20.4938 +9
16 Will Davison DJR 83 +21.4096 +4
17 Nick Percat MSR 83 +21.5197 -1
18 Anton De Pasquale Team 18 82 +1 Lap -8
19 Aaron Cameron BRT 82 +1 Lap -2
20 Bryce Fullwood BJR 82 +1 Lap -11
21 Lochie Dalton Tickford 82 +1 Lap -3
22 James Golding PremiAir 77 +6 Laps -16
NC Ryan Wood WAU 74 +9 Laps -16
NC Cooper Murray Erebus 62 +21 Laps -12
Supercars Perth Super440 (all times AEST)
Practice 1: 1: Jaxon Evans 55.0864 2: Ryan Wood +0.3596 3: Broc Feeney +0.3948
Practice 2: 1: Matt Payne 54.3903 2: Anton De Pasquale +0.0856 3: Thomas Randle +0.2214
R14 Qualifying: 1 Chaz Mostert 53.6858 2 Ryan Wood +0.0839 3 Brodie Kostecki +0.0961
R15 Qualifying: 1 Ryan Wood 53.8966 2 Cameron Waters +0.2578 3 Broc Feeney +0.3017
Race 14 (50 laps): 1 Ryan Wood 47:18.8672 2 Will Brown Triple Eight 50 +0.6129 3 Chaz Mostert WAU 50 +3.3897 -2
R16 Qualifying: 1 Broc Feeney 53.8300 2 David Reynolds +0.0328 3 Matt Payne +0.0475
Top 10 Shootout: 1 Broc Feeney 53.8300 2 Cameron Waters +0.2079 3 Will Brown +0.2861
Race 16 (83 laps): Sun 17.15
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