Feeney: Payne win proves teams should back young drivers
Supercars
30 Nov
Broc Feeney says Matt Payne’s win proves teams should back young drivers
Payne and Feeney, both aged 21, finished first and second last Sunday
Feeney became youngest driver to take a pole, win Sandown this year
Broc Feeney says Matt Payne’s breakthrough VAILO Adelaide 500 win proves teams should “give the young guys a go”.
Payne led fellow 21-year-old Feeney across the line in last Sunday’s final race of the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship.
Of the 10 drivers to win a race in 2023, six were aged 29 or younger, with 26-year-old Brodie Kostecki winning the drivers’ championship.
Feeney has reset a number of ‘youngest ever’ benchmarks since debuting last season, notably becoming the youngest driver to take a pole position and win the Adelaide 500 and Sandown 500.
With another young gun in Payne breaking through, Feeney believes teams should back the next generation coming through.
"I want to say congratulations to Matt and his team,” the Red Bull Ampol Racing driver said.
"I’m stoked that another young kid has won and it just shows that people should give the young guys a go.
"I think it’s awesome for the sport to see him up on the top step."
Feeney clinched third in the drivers’ standings, with five wins and three poles the highlight of his sophomore campaign in Supercars.
The Queenslander hailed a “massive step up” on his side, but knows he needs more improvement should he win the championship in 2024.
"I was hoping I was going to go back-to-back and was driving my ass off out there, but unfortunately we didn’t have the pace that those cars had,” he said.
"It’s a good way to go out and we locked in P3 in the championship. I want to thank everyone for the support this year.
"It’s been an awesome year and has been a massive step up from last year on my side. We’ve got a bit to improve on that’s for sure.
"We want to win the drivers’ and the teams’ championships as we didn’t get those this year, so we’ll come back fighting next year but I want to thank everyone for sticking around."
Feeney will be joined by 25-year-old Will Brown at Triple Eight in 2024, with the new season commencing at the Thrifty Bathurst 500 on February 23-25.
