Broc Feeney reclaimed the Supercars factors factors lead with victory at Sandown Park close to Melbourne, securing his place within the Closing spherical in Adelaide in two weeks.
Triple Eight’s Feeney, who began from pole place for the sixteenth time this season (equalling the document set in 2017 by Scott McLaughlin) performed a cat-and-mouse sport with fellow Chevrolet Camaro driver Anton De Pasquale, finally dashing dwelling to a 4.37s victory in a race that noticed the entire discipline begin on dry tyres, then change onto wets after which return to slicks for the ultimate half of the race.
“After the yr we’ve had, it’s superior to get one other win right here as we speak,” Feeney stated after his twenty fifth Supercars win.
“We’re within the Grand Closing, that’s the place we need to be. To indicate we are able to win races at the moment of the yr is essential. It was a bit laborious being the chief when the rain got here and I used to be not that disillusioned to see these automobiles undergo.”
Out of Finals rivalry, De Pasquale was nonetheless happy to offer Workforce 18 its first Sandown podium.
“[It was] actually troublesome within the driver’s seat, figuring out he’s within the Finals, I didn’t need to develop into a highlights reel,” stated ‘ADP’ after a powerful exhibiting throughout the weekend.
“[It was] tremendous changeable, I acquired to the lead and it was altering, and it’s the worst place to be and the most effective place to be on the identical time. It modifications [on] each nook.”
Virtually unbelievably, Will Brown completed third to make it a double podium for Triple Eight. One more superb rearguard motion was required after he began from seventeenth on the grid when, for the second day in a row, he parked early out of a qualifying session, solely to see drivers leap him when monitor circumstances modified.
At one level, he had gained 14 locations in 23 laps, and when the monitor was at its wettest, he appeared to be the quickest driver on the monitor.
“The moist was superior, we carved our approach by and I needed to get into the Closing 4,” stated Brown. “I feel we had the quickest automobile this weekend however we didn’t execute in qualy. I really feel like we’re coming good on the proper time of the yr.”
As one of many first drivers to alter onto slicks after the dangerous climate, Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert challenged the leaders at one stage, however he hit the wall at Flip 4 and dropped again. He recovered to complete because the main Ford driver in fourth.
Brodie Kostecki took fifth place for Dick Johnson Racing in a race that will, in time, be filed below ‘What May Have Been’. He completed simply away from fellow Ford driver Kai Allen who, with sixth, certified as one of many 4 drivers to stay in title rivalry within the closing three races of the season.
A yr in the past, DJR made the choice to cross on Allen and permit him to go away, at which level he was snapped up by Grove Racing. A gradual rookie marketing campaign noticed him simply advance to the Finals and he now seem like a real rising star.
Two of the seven drivers who began the race with title ambitions had their hopes resulted in a single incident. On lap 52, the Fords of Matt Payne (Grove Racing) and Cam Waters (Tickford) clashed two in two corners, prompting Waters to right away pit with a flat tyre – having already attracted a five-second time penalty over an early conflict with Brown. His staff quickly identified a damaged damper and although he returned to trace 5 laps down, he was out of title rivalry.
The conflict dropped Payne right down to ninth, in a race through which he wanted thirteenth or higher to advance to the ultimate 4. He soldiered on, however a lowly Twenty second-place end extinguished any vapours of title hopes he maintained.
The Grove staff did have the choice of asking Allen to intentionally drop locations over the ultimate 20 laps, to advance Payne into the Closing 4, however determined in opposition to it.
The opposite driver to have his Closing hopes finish was Thomas Randle, who began ninth however fell again within the climate modifications, ending thirteenth.
Feeney leads the factors on 4417, 30 away from Mostert and 86 away from Brown. Two Chevrolet and two Ford drivers have made the ultimate 4 from three completely different groups.
The Supercars will likely be again in motion for the ultimate spherical of the collection, on the streets of Adelaide, from 27-30 November, for 3 races that may decide the 2025 champion.
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