The hard chat that turned Feeney's fortunes around
Broc Feeney won both Darwin races
Pre-event Roland Dane chat helped Feeney rediscover form
Feeney cut Will Brown's lead from 136 to 108 points
Broc Feeney has revealed a post-Perth chat with former Triple Eight boss Roland Dane helped him rediscover winning form in Darwin.
Feeney dominated both races at the betr Darwin Triple Crown to turn the tables on teammate and championship leader Will Brown.
Brown had Feeney’s measure in New Zealand and Perth, with the margin between the two blowing out from 17 to 136 points.
Notably, Brown chased down Feeney to win in Taupō, before Feeney was only fifth and seventh in Perth as Brown scored a podium double.
Come Darwin, and while Brown had impressive one-lap pace, Feeney converted when it mattered to take his season wins tally to five.
Critically, Feeney slashed Brown’s lead from 136 to 108 points over the course of the weekend.
Speaking after Sunday’s race, Feeney explained how a chat with Dane — who was Triple Eight boss when the team signed him to replace Jamie Whincup in 2021 — was key to getting back on the front foot.
“I suppose I was a kid when I joined the team, but I just can't thank the team enough for believing in me,” the 21-year-old said on the broadcast.
“It was such a big opportunity. I think they signed me when I was about 18 years old to replace Jamie Whincup — it's unheard of, and Roland was a big part of that.
“[Dane] was the one I sat down with after Perth to figure out how I need to get back on the front foot, so it's obviously great to sort of repay them with victories and being in the hunt.
“Obviously, with Jamie and Shane [van Gisbergen] leaving, a lot of people sort of questioned where we'd be able to be.
“So, to keep the momentum going, keep the wins coming's obviously awesome and I'm just so proud to be a part of this team and, look, hopefully I'm here for a lot longer.”
It was another weekend of problem-solving and adapting on the run for Brown and engineer Martin Short, but unlike Taupō and Perth, they extracted the pace required to win.
However, Feeney admitted Brown has had his measure in parts, including a stage in Sunday’s race where Brown ate into Feeney’s lead.
“The big one for me's just been understanding why we haven't had the speed in the last few [races],” Feeney explained.
“It's easy to go, ‘We didn't have a great round, okay, let's reset for the next one,' but I'm a big one of trying to understand why, and how I can actually do better at the next one.
“Obviously Taupō, [Brown] hunted me down and passed me in the late laps, so, for me, it's trying to understand what he did better then. And same at Perth, I didn't have the speed, so it's just about understanding what I need to do.
“There's certainly some things Will's better at and some things that I've been able to be a little bit better as well, so, just understanding that, what I need to adjust in my driving to get better.
“This track obviously suits my style pretty well, and we obviously have a great car to go with it.”
