Feeney fastest in Sandown qualifying, four Kiwis in top 10

New Zealanders Matt Payne, Ryan Wood, Richie Stanaway and Andre Heimgertner have qualified for the Top 10 Shootout at the Sandown 500.

Red Bull’s Broc Feeney led the way in this afternoon’s timed qualifying session, setting a best lap of 1:12.8980 in damp conditions.

With three minutes remaining, the Red Bull #88 driver’s late effort bettered Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert by just 0.04 seconds, with Payne a further 0.0475 seconds behind in third.

Wood was fourth fastest, ahead of Tickford’s Cam Waters, who made for four Mustangs in the top five.

Championship leader Will Brown, reigning champion Brodie Kostecki, Stanaway, Heimgartner and Anton De Pasquale complete the top ten.

De Pasquale’s final lap bumped Nick Percat from the top ten, with just 0.0338 seconds separating the pair.

Rain and hail began falling at Sandown just as qualifying began but quickly subsided, seeing times improve as the session progressed.

A crash for Aaron Love brought a red flag near the mid-point, and just 12 minutes remained on the clock on resumption.

As conditions improved, the timesheets did, too, with Feeney’s session-topping time coming in the final three minutes.

James Courtney (12th), Mark Winterbottom (13th), Will Davison (15th), and Thomas Randle (21st) were among those who did not progress to the Top 10 Shootout.

New Zealander Jaxon Evans put in an improved qualifying effort for 20th.

The Top 10 Shootout begins at 7.25 pm NZST and will be shown live on Sky Sport.

Sandown 500 Qualifying Results

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