Feeney outlasts Brown to claim Darwin sweep

Broc Feeney has kept Will Brown at bay in another tense intra-team Triple Eight battle, with Feeney claiming a betr Darwin Triple Crown sweep.

Feeney, who won Saturday’s race, won from pole on Sunday to cut Brown’s championship lead, which was 136 points heading into the weekend, from 115 to 108 points.

The Red Bull Ampol Racing teammates, as they have done for the balance of the season, set the pace and converted to a fifth one-two finish in 12 attempts in 2024.

The race also marked a breakthrough for reigning champion Brodie Kostecki, who recorded his first podium of his title defence, and his first since the Gold Coast last October.

It was a hammer blow to Chaz Mostert’s championship chances, however, with the Walkinshaw Andretti United driver only 16th after starting 20th.

James Golding, Nick Percat and Jack Le Brocq completed an all-Chevrolet top six, ahead of Shell V-Power Racing Team teammates Will Davison and Anton De Pasquale, Cameron Hill, and Richie Stanaway.

"Pumped to be back. Bloody hell, Will was fast," Feeney said.

"He obviously chased me down at the end of Taupō, but to hold on there, that's a big win.

"Two wins this weekend, a pole in the Shootout today. It's not the official Triple Crown, but I'm pretty stoked with that."

The race featured a first-lap bp pulse Safety Car after a collision between Andre Heimgartner and wildcard Cooper Murray, which sent the Brad Jones Racing car into the air and onto Murray’s Camaro.

Feeney got off the line strongly, but the same couldn’t be said for Kostecki, who lost second place to Brown around Turn 1.

The race was neutralised four corners later, when a spectacular clash between Heimgartner and Murray lifted the #8 R&J Batteries Camaro onto the Triple Eight wildcard entry.

Heimgartner was tipped onto his side, while the stricken Murray triggered the first bp pulse Safety Car of the weekend. Later, officials advised No Further Action over the incident.

Feeney led the field to green on the lap 4 restart, with several drivers in the midfield forced to check up. Notably, James Courtney was forced to take evasive action, and narrowly missed the inside wall.

Feeney resisted an initial challenge from Brown to open up a 1.7s lead by lap 9, with Kostecki 1.1s behind the championship leader. By lap 12, Feeney was 1.8s up the road, with Kostecki 1.9s behind Brown.

Officials advised that the Safety Car restart procedure had been placed under investigation. Wood and Love were been hit with drive-through penalties over a breach of Safety Car procedure, while Heimgartner and Murray were handed drive-throughs for overspeed.

Brown pegged the margin back to 1.5s on lap 17. At the end of the lap, Percat (10th) and David Reynolds (19th) kicked off the pit cycle, with Stanaway, Thomas Randle and Macauley Jones brought in on the following lap.

Brown continued to eat into Feeney’s lead, which was down to 0.7s by lap 23. Golding jumped Le Brocq in the lane, with Percat also getting ahead of the Tyrepower Chevrolet.

Kostecki was brought in on lap 24, with Brown just 0.5s behind. Mostert, meanwhile, was effective 15th before the pit cycle began, but appeared to undergo a slow stop on lap 24.

All the while, Matt Payne sent Ryan Wood into a spin at Turn 1, and was hit with a 15-second penalty over the clash.

Brown came in at the end of lap 27, and rejoined 2.7s behind Feeney. Kostecki was 7.2s behind Brown, with Golding, Percat, Le Brocq, Hill, Davison, Stanaway and De Pasquale the top 10 by the time the pit cycle ended. Mostert, meanwhile, was mired down in 18th, some 29.5s behind race leader Feeney.

Brown moved the margin back down to 1.5s by lap 39, having set the fastest lap of the race on lap 35. By that stage, Kostecki had fallen 11.5s behind Brown, with Golding 5.3s behind the reigning champion.

Brown continued to march forward, dropping the gap to 1.1s by lap 41. The margin dropped to within a second on lap 43, with Brown setting the fastest first sector of the race on lap 44.

However, Feeney was undeterred and eventually sailed to his fifth win of the season by 1.2255s, with Kostecki 17.4258s behind the winner.

The 2024 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the NTI Townsville 500 on July 5-7. Foxtel, Kayo, 7plus and the Seven Network will provide live broadcast for the event. Tickets are available on the Supercars website.