Broc Feeney has extended his lead at the top of the Supercars standings, holding onto pole position to win a crash-filled first race of the Darwin Triple Crown.
The Triple Eight speedster’s third consecutive win opened up his championship gap over teammate Will Brown to 107 points, keeping his cool despite the chaos unfolding behind him on Saturday.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Jack Le Brocq loses wheel in dramatic crash.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today
Feeney held off Tickford’s Cam Waters at the opening turn and remained in front until the end.
Waters opted to change all four tyres in his compulsory pit stop, sacrificing time off the track in the hope his fresher tyres would give him a speed boost to haul down Feeney later in the race.
While he closed the gap to 1.7 seconds, it was not enough to haul down the 22-year-old, even with a clutch issue hampering his drive.
Broc Feeney continued his dominance at Hidden Valley, winning the opening race. Credit: AAP “It was super stressful. I didn’t know how it was going to go,” he said.
“But it was awesome fun. Cam chasing me down, it was super hard out there. Hot, stressing, I had lots of stuff going in my head.
“I bloody love coming to Darwin, so stoked to win here.”
It’s Feeney’s fourth race win at the venue, having won both races in 2024.
It took just one turn for the first big shunt of the race to bring out the safety car.
Wheel contact from James Golding fired Jaxon Evans into the barrier at the exit of turn one at high speed, dislodging his front left wheel and ruling his car out of the rest of the day’s action.
Thankfully, Evans walked away from the incident unscathed, except for a slightly sore foot.
There was more drama straight off the restart.
Head here to watch the Triple Crown live and free on 7plus from 12pm AEST
The grid was pinched together as drivers jostled for position on the 1.1km-long straight; at one point cars were five-wide as braking ahead squeezed the available space on the track.
Contact amid the cramped conditions sent Jack Le Broq into the wall, losing his front-left wheel, and seconds later a tangle between Nick Percat and Richie Stanaway on turn five left the PremiAir Racing man with heavy damage.
Jack Le Broq lost his wheel in a dramatic crash in Darwin. Credit: Channel 7 Meanwhile, Ryan Wood’s Ford Mustang lost power and emerged immobile out of the chaos.
Walkinshaw Andretti United later revealed his car had suffered engine failure and was in doubt to start in race 18.
We had to wait until lap 12 for the first green lap of the race.
Off the second restart, Brodie Kostecki bumped past Matt Payne on the inside of turn one to move into third position and was handed a five-second penalty as a result.
Payne eventually finished in third, while Brown managed to close six spots to finish in eighth after failing to make the top 10 earlier for both races.
Hometown hero Bryce Fullwood narrowly missed out on a podium, finishing four seconds behind Payne in fourth.
RACE 17 RESULTS:
1. Broc Feeney (Triple Eight Race Engineering)
2. Cam Waters (Tickford Racing)
3. Matt Payne (Grove Racing)
4. Bryce Fullwood (Brad Jones Racing)
5. James Courtney (Blanchard Racing Team)
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
1. Broc Feeney (Triple Eight Race Engineering)
2. Will Brown (Triple Eight Race Engineering)
3. Matt Payne (Grove Racing)
4. Cam Waters (Tickford Racing)
5. Chaz Mostert (Walkinshaw Andretti United)
How to watch Supercars on Seven Darwin Triple Crown
Saturday from 12pm AEST live and free on Seven, 7mate and 7plus sport
Sunday from 12pm AEST live and free on Seven, 7mate and 7plus sport