'Stupid mistake' sends Feeney into the wall

An unforced error has seen Broc Feeney become the first casualty of the Albert Park weekend.

Feeney crashed in the early stages of opening practice at the Beaurepaires Melbourne 400.

The Red Bull Ampol Racing rookie oversteered into the Turn 5 barriers, triggering a red flag.

The impact was enough to rip the rear wing off the #88 Red Bull Ampol Commodore.

Feeney was ninth on the timesheets at the time of the incident.

"I carried too much speed on entry and couldn't catch it," he said after returning to pit lane.

"Just a stupid mistake... don't know what happened there.

"Certainly not the way we want to start the weekend.

"I'm sure the boys will get it back together and hopefully we'll get back out there."

Both Shell V-Power Racing Team Fords avoided Feeney's car as it bounced onto the racing line.

The session was halted as Feeney slowly returned his damaged car to the garage.

Repairs to the barriers threatened to force an early end to the session, with Will Davison leading teammate Anton De Pasquale.

Lee Holdsworth, Mark Winterbottom and Garry Jacobson rounded out the top five before the session was restarted.

Feeney's teammate Shane van Gisbergen set a last-gasp flyer to jump to the top, before he was unseated by De Pasquale.

Cars will return to the track for Practice 2 at 12:30pm AEDT.