Every point counts: Feeney's fighting words after Brown defeat

Broc Feeney may have missed out on Taupō victory, but knows there’s a bigger picture at hand in the championship fight with Triple Eight teammate Will Brown.

Brown overhauled Red Bull Ampol Racing teammate Feeney in a tense conclusion to the ITM Taupō Super400 on Sunday.

Feeney led the majority of the race, but Brown had better tyre life in the final stint and fought past his teammate in the closing laps.

Brown claimed the win and extended his championship lead to 71 points, which was 17 points coming into the weekend.

While disappointed to miss out on the win, Feeney was delighted to banish the nightmare of Saturday’s troubled run to 21st, which featured a spin at Turn 1.

“Chuffed for the team, one-two. Obviously, wish I would have been able to hang on there, but Will had a lot of speed,” Feeney said.

"So congrats to him, the team. We're a lot better off than we were 24 hours ago.

“But, two fast race cars, as always, thanks to the team, looking forward to getting back to work and then trying to beat this young fella."

Brown was delighted to win, but admitted the tyre life difference made it "bloody hard" to avoid contact with Feeney in their nail-biting battle.

Prior to Taupō, the margin between Brown and Feeney had been no greater than 18 points across the first six races, but Saturday’s dramatic race saw Brown open up a 59-point margin.

Heading to Perth — where he won the finale at last year’s event — Feeney is determined to get “a few up” on Brown, who has finished ahead of Feeney in the last three races.

“Every point counts, that's obviously why we're fighting pretty hard out there,” Feeney said.

"It’s been a lot of fun racing with Will, he's been super fast since joining the team.

"So, looking forward to racing with him for the rest of the year, and hopefully I can get a few up on him.”

The 2024 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint on May 17-19. Tickets are on sale now.