Supercars 2025: Broc Feeney crushes rival's hopes of a breakout win in the opening sprint race at Tasmania Super 440
Bouncing back from a lean round in New Zealand when his team failed to score a podium, Feeney took his season tally to three victories to continue Triple Eight's dominance at the Tasmanian circuit.
The 22-year-old cruised to victory in the opening 50-lap sprint race, finishing almost eight seconds ahead of Tickford Racing's pole-sitter Thomas Randle, with Brad Jones Racing's Bryce Fullwood finishing third to claim his first podium for the year.
Starting on pole position for the second race, Feeney faced a bigger battle for his second victory, forced to fight to reclaim the lead after Matt Stone Racing's Nick Percat overcut the race leaders with his mid-race pit stop.
It only took Feeney a couple of laps before he was able to wrestle back the lead from Percat, but Triple Eight boss Jamie Whincup admitted the team had been lucky to escape with the race challenge after gambling on a four-tyre pit stop.
In his 100th race, Feeney went on to take a two-and-a-half second win over Percat, while Tickford Racing's Cam Waters finished third.
Claiming maximum points for the day as he also secured the two fastest laps, Feeney jumped to the top of the Supercars standings ahead of Waters and Brown.
Feeney had slipped to fourth in the championship standings after failing to score a podium at the last round in Taupo.
Defending Supercars champion Brown's hold on the title lead slipped after finishing fifth and 11th in Saturday's two races.
Feeney now his sights set on a clean sweep of the three races at Symmons Plains.
'We made it very hard for ourselves, I didn't expect so many people to come out in front of me,' Feeney said.
'I didn't think I would be getting emotional towards the back end of that race, but with a few laps to go I'm like, 'Man, this is going to be pretty special'.
'I just can't thank the team, my family, everyone that has backed me (enough), to get me here to 100 races. To win today both of them is super special.
'It was a great battle with Nick, that was heaps of fun. For a few laps there, I thought this was going to be pretty tricky, but to get back through the lead and then once again have really good speed is awesome.
'We'll celebrate tonight, but we want to go for three (wins) tomorrow, but it's been a great weekend so far so I am absolutely chuffed.
'It's about time we got those orange (title leader) numbers back on this car and hopefully they stay for a bit longer this time.'
Feeney now holds an eight-point title lead over Waters, who was also fourth in the first race, while Brown is 12 points off the lead.
The Gold Coast racer is chasing a first Supercars title after finishing runner-up to Brown last year.
A 200 km race on Sunday will complete the round at the Tasmania Super 440.
RACE 1: FEENEY OFF TO A FLYER
Triple Eight young gun Broc Feeney has given his championship standing a boost after cruising to victory in the opening sprint race at Symmons Plains, as he crushed Tickford Racing's Thomas Randle's hopes of a breakthrough win.
Bouncing back from a lean round in New Zealand when the team failed to score a podium, Feeney claimed his second win for the year as he finished almost eight seconds ahead of second-placed Randle.
At Triple Eight's happy hunting ground at the Tasmanian circuit, Feeney started on the front row alongside pole-sitter Randle and duelled with the Ford driver over the first 11 laps before making his move on the back straight for the race lead.
Randle dropped another place to Feeney's teammate Brown later in the lap and it appeared Triple Eight was on target for a one-two before the defending champion encountered trouble at his pit stop and lost ground.
Feeney was unchallenged for the rest of the race, leading home Randle and Brad Jones Racing's Bryce Fullwood, who claimed his first podium for the year.
Brown finished the 50-lap race in fifth with his closest championship rival, Tickford's Cam Waters, taking fourth.
The win moved Feeney from fourth position in the driver standings back into third as he capitalised on his 'rocket ship' Camaro with his lap record pace.
Feeney will have another chance to add to his win in Saturday afternoon's second sprint race when he starts on pole position.
'I'm stoked to get a win again, absolutely chuffed with that – the thing was a rocket ship,' Feeney said.
'I knew on the first few laps I probably had the speed, so I just had to wait for my time to get past Thomas and he was driving fantastic.
'I knew where I was going to get him (Randle), I just had to wait for my time. I had a good run through one and two and I knew it was going to be the lap … a bit of side-drafting with the Tickford car which I am used to and it was good to get one back.
'(I'm) stoked for the team, it's obviously a great bounce back.'
Feeney's victory gave Triple Eight its 27th win from 52 starts at Symmons Plains.
Randle, still chasing his first Supercars race win, was pleased to be able to still walk away from a podium but admitted he did not have the pace to match Feeney.
'It's the first podium for me here. It's nice to get the podium and capitalise on the race and I think that's all we could have done,' Randle said.
'It was cool to lead for the first few laps, I was trying to break the slipstream off Broc, but he was too fast.'
There was drama before the race when both Dick Johnson Racing Fords were investigated for a technical breach, but were cleared by the stewards.
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