Feeney explains 'stupid little mistake' behind puncture

A "tiny" yet "stupid" mistake was all it took for Broc Feeney to see a podium go begging in the first race of the season, with the Triple Eight Race Engineering driver slumping to 14th after a puncture.

Feeney ran second behind eventual winner Cam Waters before the pit stops, before a left-rear puncture ruined his hopes of starting the year with a trophy.

The Queenslander crawled to pit lane with a shredded tyre, and was forced to charge back through the pack.

As Waters cantered to victory, what could have been a comfortably runner-up finish for Feeney instead transpired into a lowly 14th, nearly 40 seconds down.

Drivers were warned over the verges, with the Drivers' Briefing notes reading: "There are significant drop offs on the track verges, these will not be backfilled."

Speaking after the race, Feeney said he simply ran wide at Turn 3, dropped a wheel off the road at the verge, came back onto the track and cut a tyre.

"I just made a mistake," the 2024 runner-up said.

"I knew we were pitting at the end of that lap. I had the tiniest moment out of [Turn] 3, my rear tyres fall over the edge, and there's probably about a foot drop there.

"We got back to the pits without crashing or anything, but we were dead last and got back to 14th."

While Waters loomed as a mountain too steep to climb, Feeney was confident he could have finished second.

Instead, the #88 Red Bull Ampol Chevrolet driver heads into Saturday 14th in the standings, added :"I'm gutted for the team, we certainly weren't going to catch Cam, we were a P2 car today.

"Stupid little mistakes cost us. Thankfully it's a 60-point race, there's not many positives to take out of it, but it's better than a big [race], that's for sure.

"The result's not what we wanted, but we should be happy with where we were."