Feeney dominates, Mostert mounts epic fightback

Broc Feeney has dominated the betr Darwin Triple Crown opener, which featured a stunning recovery drive by championship hopeful Chaz Mostert.

Feeney overhauled pole-sitter James Golding in the opening laps and raced away to his fourth win of the season, and first since March’s Grand Prix.

Mark Winterbottom benefited from the Feeney/Golding overtake to score his second podium of the season, holding off championship leader Will Brown.

However, the biggest mover was Mostert, who motored from 22nd on the grid to fifth, limiting the damage in his title bid.

Mostert crossed the line 0.4s behind Golding, with Cam Waters sixth on the road but demoted to 10th following a mid-race clash with Anton De Pasquale.

The end margin between Feeney and Winterbottom was a whopping 8.6763s, with Brown ultimately 1.9663s behind the Team 18 veteran.

Heading into Sunday, Feeney has slashed Brown’s lead from 136 to 115 points, with Mostert 193 points behind the #87 Red Bull Ampol Racing driver.

“It was good hard racing with Jimmy there for the first few laps,” Feeney said.

"I knew I had some really good speed, so I got the move done early and then this thing was a rocket ship. The last couple of rounds have been pretty tough, so to bounce back here with a big win is pretty awesome.”

On the Golding move, he added: “I knew I could flow speed into Turn 5 on him, so I knew I had an opportunity, so I got it in there. Pretty fun to get through so early and just get clean air."

There was drama before the lights went out, with reigning champion Brodie Kostecki — who was set to launch from 11th — consigned to a DNS after recurring stalling issues on the grid.

Golding managed to hold Feeney off during the course of the first lap, after both front-row starters dragged down to the first corner.

On lap 4, Feeney made his move, muscling past Golding at the Turn 6 hairpin. Feeney straddled the inside kerb and the two cars made contact, helping Winterbottom by into second.

From there, Feeney was peerless, opening up a 3.2s lead over Winterbottom, who led Brown into the pits on lap 23. Behind them, Mostert was on his charge, with the two-time Bathurst winner moving from 22nd to 13th by lap 14.

Golding, Nick Percat and De Pasquale came in on lap 22, with Golding forced to baulk as De Pasquale cycled through the lane. Winterbottom, Brown and Mostert stopped on the following lap, and the baulk proved costly for Golding as Brown jumped ahead into effective third.

Reynolds came in on lap 24, and emerged line astern with Brown, Golding and Percat. Brown and Golding got ahead, with Reynolds keeping Percat at bay.

Red Bull Ampol Racing finally brought Feeney in for his compulsory stop on lap 29, with Waters also brought in. Feeney took on two tyres and emerged with a 2.4s lead over Winterbottom. Waters, meanwhile, resumed in 13th behind Mostert.

Mostert and De Pasquale tangled exiting the hairpin, before the Shell V-Power Mustang was tapped by Waters at the final corner. All the while, Winterbottom had slashed the margin to Feeney to 1.3s by lap 33.

As Mostert moved into ninth ahead of Stanaway, the Waters/De Pasquale incident was quickly placed under investigation. A five-second penalty later levied on the Tickford driver, who was 11th at the time of the announcement.

Mostert got past Slade into eighth on lap 37, with Waters pushing the PremiAir Nulon Camaro down to 10th. Behind them, Randle and Courtney collided at Turn 4, forcing the former teammates into pit lane.

The Ford duo continued to march forward, Mostert and Waters passing Andre Heimgartner for seventh and eighth on lap 40. By then, Feeney’s lead over Winterbottom had blown back out to 3.8s.

Mostert got by former teammate Percat at the hairpin for sixth, and set off after Reynolds. While Feeney had Winterbottom covered, the 2015 champion suddenly had Brown for company in a battle for second.

Mostert and Waters worked their way past Reynolds, but Golding proved too great an obstacle to overcome, ending Mostert’s charge at 17 positions gained.

Reynolds, Percat, Heimgartner and De Pasquale were promoted by Waters’ penalty.

Track action will commence on Sunday with Boost Mobile Qualifying at 10:25am ACST/10:55am AEST, before the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout at 11:35am ACST/12:05pm AEST.

The final race of the weekend, the 48-lap Race 12, will get underway at 3:10pm ACST/3:40pm AEST.