How Triple Eight fumble forced Feeney into 'gloves off' scenario

Starting 20th after Triple Eight Race Engineering fumbled qualifying, Broc Feeney had it all to do in the Taupō finale.

After qualifying 11th and third for the first two races, Feeney was left to rue a call made by Team Manager Mark Dutton and engineer Martin Short to stay in pit lane and save tyres.

To that point, Feeney had an average qualifying result of 2.67, and hadn't been exposed to the wild midfield action made even more wild by relaxed racing rules.

By day's end, Feeney survived the chaos to charge from 20th to seventh, a crucial result that helped the 22-year-old keep pace with the championship leaders.

Importantly, Feeney had been one of the last drivers to get into the "gloves off" racing that has headlined the three rounds so far this season.

Speaking on the latest Drivers Only episode, Feeney admitted he had been lucky starting from the front of the field, and that the "wild" racing lived up to expectations.

“Sydney and Melbourne, I was very lucky, I started off the front row,” Feeney said.

“I’m hearing all this noise, we’d finish a race and think this is good, and then you hear the stories.

“Being in the pack, it’s gloves off. I suppose it’s such a tough track, pretty wild, I suppose it was a crazy as I thought."

Feeney insisted there was more front to rear rubbing than he would have liked, although it must be mentioned that he made heavy front to rear contact with Andre Heimgartner late in the race.

However, where some drivers had been hit out of position, Feeney allowed Heimgartner to hold position, with the duo crossing the line sixth and seventh.

“There’s a lot of rubbing, which I think is good to an extent. There’s a lot of front to rear, where you’re trying to get rid of people," Feeney said.

“After a few years in it, you know who you can race really well… there’s probably a few when you do pass someone, just for the sake of it, they’re going to come out of the brake at the next corner.”

Feeney is fourth in points heading to the next round in Tasmania.