The 2026 Supercars Championship opener at Sydney 500 delivered a chaotic finale on Sunday, as heat, strategy, mechanical failures and a late rain shower combined to produce a thrilling Race 3 at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Broc Feeney stormed to pole position for the final race of the weekend, securing his 28th career pole and his first for Triple Eight Race Engineering with Ford after a nail-biting Top 10 Shootout.
Qualifying began with early redemption for Andre Heimgartner, who rebounded from his Race 2 engine failure to briefly top Q1. Feeney ultimately led the session, while Matt Payne showed impressive speed to comfortably progress. Ryan Wood also advanced despite a precautionary engine change, and Heimgartner scraped through to Q2 in 15th.
In Q2, Payne laid down a statement lap to top the session, narrowly edging Anton De Pasquale. Feeney only just squeezed into the Shootout by a razor-thin 0.045s margin. Heimgartner and Wood were eliminated and locked in 17th and 18th on the grid, setting up a challenging afternoon from the midfield.
The Shootout was covered by just four-tenths across the top 10. Feeney set the benchmark early and withstood late challenges from Kai Allen and De Pasquale, who both fell mere hundredths short. Payne secured sixth on the grid, while the two other Kiwis braced for a fight through the pack.
From pole, Feeney lined up alongside Allen, holding the preferred inside line for the run to Turn 1. Allen attacked immediately, making light contact at Turns 1 and 2 as the pair battled fiercely for the lead. Feeney held firm and edged clear on the exit of Turn 3 to retain control.
Further back, Heimgartner and David Reynolds traded paint in a scrap for 17th, while Wood wasted no time slicing forward. In a stunning opening lap, Wood surged six places to 12th. Cam Waters mirrored that charge, also gaining six spots to sit 13th.
The early complexion of the race was Ford-dominated inside the top 10, with only De Pasquale (fourth) and Jack Le Brocq (10th) flying the Chevrolet flag. Notably, there were no Toyotas in the top 10 at that stage.
Five laps in, Feeney continued to lead but reported a potential cool suit failure ā far from ideal in 34-degree heat. Watersā charge continued as he dispatched Le Brocq for 10th, climbing 10 positions in just six laps.
Feeney then picked up a loose plastic bag in his grille on Lap 11, raising engine temperatures slightly. Meanwhile, Chaz Mostert was the leading Toyota in 13th, just ahead of Wood in 14th.
Pit strategy came into play early. Payne was the first to blink on Lap 13, diving in for his first compulsory stop, with Jayden Ojeda following. De Pasquale reacted immediately, pitting to cover the undercut threat from Payne.
Matt Stone Racing opted for a longer fuel stop for Le Brocq, setting him up strategically for the second half of the race.
Feeney stopped on Lap 16, while Thomas Randle, James Courtney and Heimgartner pitted on Lap 18. Wood extended his first stint the longest, finally stopping on Lap 23 as rain clouds gathered, forecast to hit within a dozen laps.
Once the first pit cycle was completed, Feeney resumed the lead ahead of Allen, James Golding, De Pasquale, Payne, Will Brown, Cameron Hill, Brodie Kostecki, Ojeda and Mostert. Heimgartner rejoined 15th, with Wood 16th.
On Lap 28, Goldingās race unravelled spectacularly. A left-rear wheel issue forced him toward the pits, but before he arrived, the wheel detached entirely. It rolled through the grass, crossed the circuit and narrowly missed both Wood and Heimgartner before coming to rest millimetres off the racing line.
The incident triggered a safety car at a pivotal moment, just as rain was about to hit. Blanchard Racing attempted to repair Goldingās car, but damage to the tread meant the tyre could not be secured.
The safety car handed the field a āfreeā second compulsory stop. Every car pitted for fresh slick tyres, moments before the rain arrived.
Under caution, rain began falling, and winds intensified. All drivers bolted on new slicks, except one. James Courtney Murray gambled on wets as the rest of the field rolled the dice on dry tyres.
Racing resumed on Lap 34, and Allen wasted no time. He surged around the outside of Feeney at Turn 1, briefly looking vulnerable at Turn 2 but holding firm to snatch the lead in treacherous conditions.
Behind them, chaos erupted. Kostecki made contact with De Pasquale, spinning him, and Brown was collected in the aftermath. Both rejoined at the tail of the field ā Brown down to 21st, De Pasquale 22nd.
At the front, Feeney regrouped and reclaimed the lead, with Allen settling into second ahead of Payne in third. Cameron and Kostecki completed the top five. Mostert, Le Brocq, Wood, Heimgartner and Hill rounded out the top 10 ā remarkably, all three Kiwis now inside it as rain continued to fall.
Brown began a spirited recovery, climbing to 18th by Lap 36, but was later handed a 15-second time penalty for his role in the earlier incident.
Heimgartnerās race also took a hit, receiving a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits while running 10th.
With five laps remaining, Allenās charge ended in heartbreak. Running second, he pitted with a left-front suspension failure, ending his podium hopes.
Out front, Feeney, still without a functioning cool suit, controlled proceedings with a 3.6-second margin over Payne. Waters had surged to third after starting 20th, completing one of the drives of the day.
There was further late drama when Cameron was spun at Turn 2 from fourth after contact from Kostecki. Race control issued Kostecki a 15-second penalty. Though he crossed the line fourth, he was relegated to 12th in the final classification.
Feeney crossed the line to claim victory in the final race of the weekend, an emphatic performance achieved in sweltering heat and without a cool suit.
Payne secured second place, earning back-to-back podium finishes to start the season strongly. Waters completed the podium in third after his storming recovery drive.
With Kosteckiās penalty applied, Mostert was elevated to fourth, Wood claimed an impressive fifth, Le Brocq finished sixth, and Hill was classified seventh. Randle was eighth, Heimgartner, despite crossing seventh, dropped to ninth due to his five-second penalty, and Macauley Jones rounded out the top 10.
In the championship standings, Feeney and Payne now sit tied on points after the opening round. However, with two race wins to his name, Feeney leaves Sydney as the official championship leader, Payne classified second but firmly within striking distance as the 2026 title fight ignites.
Header Image: Supercars
