Supercars Darwin: Feeney beats Winterbottom in Saturday race

From second on the grid Feeney (Triple Eight Chevrolet Camaro) had to follow polesitter James Golding (PremiAir Racing Chevrolet) for the opening three laps before finding a gap at Turn 6, and building a lead of up to three seconds.

As the opposition pitted, Feeney waited until mid-race to make his mandatory stop, emerging with a lead of 1.62s. By the end of 48 laps his winning margin was 8.67s.

“I thought I was going to have an aeroplane crash for a second,” said 21-year-old Feeney after his huge moment on the opening lap.

“I knew I had an opportunity so I got it in there, I was pumped to get it done so early.

“It feels like a relief, the people around me know it has been a difficult period.”

Veteran Mark Winterbottom underlined his stellar record at the Darwin circuit by taking second in the Team18 Chevrolet, ahead of Will Brown (Triple Eight Chevrolet).

“I wish they had the whole championship here!,” said ‘ Frosty’ “We had a few issues, I had a sticking throttle under brakes. Broc was fast, slow down young fella!”

Fresh from his NASCAR Cup debut at Sonoma in California Brown took his Triple Eight Chevrolet to third.

“We had a pretty fast car but the boys did an amazing job in the pits,” said the points leader.

“Once we got close to Frosty it all heats up. A warm day, hot in the car and I am glad it is not an endurance round!”

Brown’s 10th podium in 11 races was aided by a swift pitstop and slower pit work by others.

Golding’s hopes of a podium finish were dealt a blow when he had to wait in the pitlane after a two-tyre stop, dropping him back to a career best-equalling fourth at the chequered flag.

Mark Winterbottom, Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 (Photo by: Edge Photographics)

Behind the trio of Camaros came the first of the Ford Mustangs in what was undoubtedly the drive of the race.

After a difficult Friday qualifying session, Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert started 22nd and from the opening lap surged through the field, gaining nine spots in 15 laps before the pit cycle started.

By the end of the race Mostert was in fourth, just 0.6s behind Golding and showing that the WAU Ford would be a huge factor in a race providing the team can address its qualifying problems.

“I am super-gutted we did not qualify well now,” he admitted. “We got the strategy right today, a few guys are probably annoyed with me, I might have leaned on people pretty hard!”

David Reynolds gave Team18 another reward in sixth place ahead of the other driver to be slowed in the pits, Nick Percat, who came home in seventh place, ahead of Andre Heimgartner (Brad Jones Racing) and Tim Slade (PremiAir Racing).

With third place Brown has limited the points damage, leading Feeney 1210-1095. Mostert is third on 1017 ahead of Cam Waters, whose 11th place came after a five-second time penalty, on 778.

Darwin Supercars Race 1 result

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver		Car	Laps	Time	Interval	Retirement	Points
1	B. Feeney Red Bull Ampol Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	48	55'40.4499			150
2	M. Winterbottom DEWALT Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	48	+8.6763 55'49.1262	8.6763		138
3	W. Brown Red Bull Ampol Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	48	+10.6426 55'51.0925	1.9663		129
4	J. Golding PremiAir Nulon Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	48	+14.6593 55'55.1092	4.0167		120
5	C. Mostert Mobil 1 Optus Racing		Ford Mustang GT	48	+15.1062 55'55.5561	0.4469		111
6	D. Reynolds Tradie Beer Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	48	+17.8120 55'58.2619	2.7058		102
7	N. Percat Bendix Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	48	+18.6266 55'59.0765	0.8146		96
8	A. Heimgartner R&J Batteries Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	48	+19.9128 56'00.3627	1.2862		90
9	A. De Pasquale Dick Johnson Racing		Ford Mustang GT	48	+20.2235 56'00.6734	0.3107		84
10	C. Waters Monster Castrol Racing		Ford Mustang GT	48	+20.2782 56'00.7281	0.0547		78
11	W. Davison Dick Johnson Racing		Ford Mustang GT	48	+22.0824 56'02.5323	1.8042		72
12	T. Slade PremiAir Nulon Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	48	+26.3735 56'06.8234	4.2911		69
13	J. Le Brocq Erebus Motorsport Penrite		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	48	+26.4970 56'06.9469	0.1235		66
14	R. Stanaway Penrite Racing		Ford Mustang GT	48	+26.6736 56'07.1235	0.1766		63
15	M. Payne Penrite Racing		Ford Mustang GT	48	+27.8960 56'08.3459	1.2224		60
16	C. Hill Tyrepower Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	48	+34.9201 56'15.3700	7.0241		57
17	B. Fullwood Middy's Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	48	+34.9447 56'15.3946	0.0246		54
18	M. Jones Pizza Hut Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	48	+35.4377 56'15.8876	0.4930		51
19	A. Love Brad Jones Racing		Ford Mustang GT	48	+43.0249 56'23.4748	7.5872		48
20	R. Wood Mobil 1 Truck Assist Racing		Ford Mustang GT	48	+43.9794 56'24.4293	0.9545		45
21	J. Evans SCT Motorsport		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	48	+53.4164 56'33.8663	9.4370		42
22	C. Murray Tickford Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	48	+54.2762 56'34.7261	0.8598		39
23	J. Courtney Snowy River Racing		Ford Mustang GT	47	+1 Lap 56'16.6055	1 Lap		36
24	T. Randle Monster Castrol Racing		Ford Mustang GT	47	+1 Lap 56'25.0642	8.4587		33
	B. Kostecki Erebus Motorsport Penrite		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	0			Retirement
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