Feeney takes another pole in tight Shootout
The first AirTouch 500 at The Bend Top 10 Shootout delivered, but it was a familiar story as Broc Feeney took yet another pole in 2025 and denied Cameron Hill something special.
Held under the setting sun and in cool conditions, the track got faster as the session went on until Feeney again delivered the knockout blow.
His 1:48.6548 was a tenth clear of the rest, giving the Sprint Cup winner a 14th pole and a stunning fifth straight of what is already a record-breaking season.
Although he would still be happy with a front row, it denied Cameron Hill a dream pole in an enduro after he edged out Brodie Kostecki and Cameron Waters by less than a tenth.
The big what-if of the session was Ryan Wood, who speared off at the sweeper after going purple in the first sector.
P9 Cooper Murray 1:49.8663 +1.2115
Murray danced his way around the sweeping circuit to open the session with a competitive lap.
Just could not quite find the apex at the Turn 6 hairpin, but still more or less matched
Not too bad, nice tidy lap with a couple of small mistakes so pretty happy
P7 Anton De Pasqaule 1:49.2870 +0.6322
Caught the kerb bouncing over Turn 2, but this did not stop him from nailing the first sector, where he found two tenths alone on Murray.
The Team 18 driver kept it clean for the rest of the lap, hitting the apexes and sliding through the corners nicely to put a massive half-a-second margin on the Erebus driver.
“Hooked up pretty good. Last time in my twenties so hopefully it is a good one,” De Pasquale joked.
P8 Chaz Mostert 1:49.6823 +1.0275
Mostert was committed at the start and went deep into Turn 6, but was a tenth down at the first split.
He used all of the kerb going over Turn 11 and managed to match De Pasquale across the second sector.
Despite being three tenths down on the Team 18 driver, he still emerged a tenth ahead of Mostert.
Anton did a blinder and track conditions are a bit cooler so I thought the grip would come up, but we were sitting on top of the road a bit,” Mostert said.
P6 Matt Payne 1:49.1330 +0.4782
Payne bounced over the Turn 2 kerb and used all of the road coming out of Turn 5 as he flew through the first split, finding 0.056s on De Pasquale.
Kept the car balanced through the right-handers and stayed level with the Team 18 driver.
Payne pushed on to blitz the final sector and find a further 0.154s in impressive fashion.
P5 Thomas Randle 1:48.9341 +0.2793
Randle pushed hard at the start, sliding through Turn 1, and had to catch it slightly through the first hairpin, but this did not stop him from being up there with the best.
He danced his way through the second sector to go purple and stayed on the racing line to make the new benchmark.
Randle went a huge two tenths faster than the rest as the first driver to record a rare 1m48s time.
“Quali was messy so I really wanted to put a lap together. Made a small mistake through Turn 6, but thankfully it didn’t cost too much,” Randle said.
P2 Cameron Hill 1:48.7571 +0.1023
Hill has enjoyed a super Saturday and started on fire by going purple in the first sector by 0.098s.
He found the dirt coming out of Turn 6, but there were no dramas as the Canberran kept going.
Danced through the final sector to beat Randle’s impressive lap by 0.177s and set a high benchmark.
“That felt pretty good and the track gripped up a bit, so that was pretty cool,” Hill said.
P10 Ryan Wood 1:54.5758 +5.9210
Wood has been on it this weekend despite being his first attempt at The Bend and he was the latest to start on fire.
The Kiwi hit the Turn 5 kerb, but this did not stop him from finding 0.085s.
However, sadly his charge came to an end at Turn 8 when he found the limit.
Wood just caught some dirt on the exit of the second of four right handers, which sent him into the grass.
The small mistake was a devastating blow as the Kiwi went from fighting for pole to being on the fifth row.
“I just shot myself in the foot again so a little bit gutted. Cant believe it to be honest,” Wood said.
P4 Cameron Waters 1:48.8677 +0.2129
Waters had a clean start and hit the apexes, but was the first in four drivers not to post a purple first sector.
But Waters only got better as the lap progressed, going purple in the second and third sectors to give pole a good shake.
A little slide coming out of the final corner could have been the difference as he fell a tenth short of Hill.
“I was pretty happy with that. Track is getting quicker and we did a little bit with the car. See what the others do,” Waters said.
P1 Broc Feeney 1:48.6548
The king of qualifying in 2025 spent noticeably longer time than the others on his warm up lap.
It paid off as the Sprint Cup winner went deep into Turns 1 and 6 and found an entire tenth on the opening sector.
Feeney kept it tight through the right-handed sweeper, hugging the apexes, but lost a small amount of time to Hill.
Found some of the grass coming out of Turn 17, but still blitzed the third sector to snare top spot from Hill by a chucky tenth.
“Pretty tidy lap and happy with that one. Looking forward to starting up front for tomorrow,” he said.
P3 Brodie Kostecki 1:48.7834 +0.1286
Kostecki also took his time on the preparation lap and ran very close to the pit wall when he took the green flag.
Found some of the exit kerb at Turn 5 as he battled in the first sector, losing two tenths.
However, Kostecki sent it through the right-handers and went purple in the second split.
This brought him back into the game, but the #38 ended up just shy of the front row.
Image: Peter Norton Epic Sports Photography
Practice 2: 1: Jamie Whincup 1:50.5875 2: Todd Hazelwood +0.2082 3: Dale Wood +0.3248
Practice 3: 1: Will Brown 1:48.9957 2: Broc Feeney +0.3210 3: Thomas Randle +0.3837
Practice 4: 1 James Moffat 1:50.7387 2 Lee Holdsworth +0.1864 3 Rylan Gray +0.2128
Practice 5: Saturday 12.00-12.40
Qualifying: Saturday 15.05-15.25
Top 10 Shootout: Saturday 16.50-17.30
Warm Up: Sunday 9.30-9.50
Race 26: Sunday 13.45-17.18 102 laps
Read the new issue of Auto Action Digital HERE
Buy the new issue of Auto Action Premium HERE
Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here or you can purchase a copy of the latest issue from one of our outlets here.
