Broc Feeney has claimed pole position for Race 3 at Sydney Motorsport Park, securing his 28th career pole and his first for Triple Eight with Ford, after a tense Top 10 Shootout that saw gaps measured in mere hundredths of a second.
Q1: Heimgartner Shines Amid Early Drama
Qualifying got underway with Broc Feeney setting an early benchmark of 1:30.703, quickly followed by Cam Waters and Anton De Pasquale. Kiwi Andre Heimgartner, recovering from a dramatic engine failure in Race 2, topped the early timesheets with a 1:30.420 lap in his Brad Jones Racing Toyota Supra, three-tenths faster than Feeney.
The session saw teams holding back until the closing minutes, with Will Brown briefly topping the timesheets with a 1:29.922 lap, only to be edged out by Feeney by less than a tenth of a second. Matt Payne posted a competitive 1:30.036 lap late in the session to go third fastest.
Ryan Wood and Walkinshaw TWG Racing took no chances, making a precautionary engine change after Heimgartner’s failure yesterday. Wood ran a late lap to finish 7th, just behind teammate Chaz Mostert, who had earlier been disqualified from Race 2 for a tyre pressure breach. Heimgartner ended Q1 15th, narrowly advancing alongside Wood.
By the session’s end, Feeney led Q1, followed by Brodie Kostecki, Brown, Aaron Cameron, De Pasquale, Payne, Jack Le Brocq, James Golding, Jackson Walls, and Kai Allen. Drivers such as Jayden Ojeda, Cam Waters, Jobe Stewart, Cooper Murray, Cameron Hill, and Macauley Jones failed to progress to Q2.
Q2: Payne Sets the Pace, Top 10 Tight
The second qualifying session produced a tightly packed field. Allen set the initial benchmark with 1:30.141, with Thomas Randle close behind. Golding then opted for a solo, Top 10-style lap and went fastest with a 1:29.878.
Payne emerged as the pace-setter late in the session with a 1:29.675 lap, narrowly ahead of De Pasquale (1:29.802) and Golding. Feeney scraped into the Top 10 by just forty-five thousandths of a second, pushing Kostecki down to 11th. Heimgartner and Wood will line up 17th and 18th, respectively.
Provisional Top 10 after Q2:
- Matt Payne
- Anton De Pasquale
- Aaron Cameron
- James Golding
- Kai Allen
- Will Brown
- Zach Bates
- Jack Le Brocq
- Thomas Randle
- Broc Feeney
11th–18th: Brodie Kostecki, David Reynolds, Declan Fraser, Jackson Walls, Rylan Gray, Chaz Mostert, Andre Heimgartner, Ryan Wood.
Top 10 Shootout: Feeney Holds Firm
The Top 10 Shootout provided thrilling drama with lap times so close that fractions of a second made the difference. Feeney, first out on fresh tyres, set a 1:29.679 lap. Le Brocq, on used rubber, struggled to match the pace, finishing nine-tenths off.
Bates, Brown, and Allen all delivered strong efforts, with Allen narrowly splitting the two Triple Eight drivers. Golding finished third fastest, just 0.076s shy of Feeney, while Cameron crossed the line in 5th. De Pasquale set the fastest final sector of the session but could only manage 3rd overall, 0.054s behind Feeney. Payne’s final lap was good enough for 6th on the grid.
Feeney’s pole sets the stage for a tightly contested Race 3, with the top 10 separated by just four-tenths of a second. Kiwi drivers Heimgartner and Wood will face a challenge from the mid-pack, while Payne, De Pasquale, and Triple Eight’s strong showing ensure the front of the grid promises intense racing.
Race 3 Starting Grid (Top 10)
- Broc Feeney
- Kai Allen
- Anton De Pasquale
- James Golding
- Will Brown
- Matt Payne
- Aaron Cameron
- Zach Bates
- Thomas Randle
- Jack Le Brocq
Race 3 is scheduled for 6:05pm NZST, with fans anticipating a closely fought battle across the field.
Header Image: Supercars
