How two poor starts saved Triple Eight in Bathurst

Slow starts from Will Brown and Broc Feeney proved a saving grace in the Thrifty Bathurst 500 opener, with a fast-starting Chaz Mostert given nowhere to go.

Feeney and Brown brought home a Red Bull Ampol Racing one-two ahead of Walkinshaw Andretti United Ford star Mostert on Saturday.

Brown and Feeney started on the front row, with Mostert launching from third. Mostert had a supreme start, but the slow-starting Triple Eight Camaros kept him at bay.

Mostert managed to get down the inside through Hell Corner, but Feeney got the side-draft, with Cameron Hill also getting down the inside into Griffins Bend.’

Mostert was stuck behind Hill for the entire opening stint, and fought back to third as Feeney overhauled Brown through the first round of stops.

Feeney’s cause was also helped by a pit speed limiter error for Brown, but was relieved to hold off the charging Mostert after the lights went out.

"Yeah, pretty embarrassing for me. We just did not move,” Feeney said.

“We were like NASCAR drafting up into Turn 2. So, yeah, pretty wild. And then it sort of settled down from there.”

Mostert has a recent history of making fast starts, notably powering to the front off the lane at The Bend Motorsport Park last year.

This time, the two-time Bathurst winner had nowhere to go, leaving Mostert with no option but to lift and avoid contact.

“Lights went out, they didn't go anywhere,” Mostert said.

"I was trying to dart to the inside, and I see this Toowoomba guy [Brown] down here looking in his mirror, and dart left.

"And then I dart, tried to go to the middle. And they both come in like a meat sandwich. So, unfortunately I had to lift."