'You go home': Feeney's firm warning after Bend disaster
Broc Feeney no guarantee of top Finals seed for Gold Coast
Feeney leads Matt Payne by 158 points, teammate Will Brown by 188
Feeney led Payne by 345 points, Brown 355 before The Bend
The refuelling issue that ruined the #88’s day at The Bend could easily end Finals hopes, says Broc Feeney, who ceded crucial ground to his closest rivals.
In what he labelled a "kick in the guts," Feeney crawled to 19th in Sunday’s AirTouch 500 at The Bend, after starting from a hard-earned pole position.
With Jamie Whincup at the wheel, a refuelling drama killed any hopes of victory, with Whincup making two mistakes trying to make up time. The errors shocked Mark Skaife, and gave Feeney's rivals hope of a title upset.
The winner of the Repco Sprint Cup, Feeney is already into the Elimination Final on the Gold Coast, and has 25 bonus points to his name. However, after entering the weekend 345 and 355 points ahead of Matt Payne and Will Brown, he now leads Payne by 158 points, and Brown by 188.
Should Payne and Brown both climb over Feeney in the standings after Bathurst, and one of them win the Ryco Enduro Cup, Feeney could be seeded as low as third seed for the Gold Coast.
At worst, Feeney would have 3121 points for the Gold Coast round, and an 82-point margin over eighth.
It’s the mistake with the refuelling that has Feeney wary, given a similar drama on the Gold Coast could end his title hopes there and then.
“Overall we just need to try and minimise the mistakes,” said Feeney, who will make his IMSA debut at Indianapolis this weekend.
“The way the championship is this year you have that happen at Round 1 of the Finals at the Gold Coast and you go home. So not our best day, but you've just got to learn from it and make sure it doesn't happen again.”
Teammate Brown was shocked by Feeney's points loss, saying on his Lucky Dogs podcast: "Broc has another problem at Bathurst, Matt Payne comes top three, Matt Payne's leading the championship in the old standards.
"I look at Broc and how dominant he's been... 14 poles, 12 wins, and to only be that far ahead, I was like, 'far out'.
"It definitely emphasises how many points you could lose in the enduros... finishing 19th, you're never going to win the Enduro Cup, so he's not going to get the extra points.
"It was interesting to see how many points he lost compared to people around him in the championship."
Feeney can return serve at the next chance of asking at the Repco Bathurst 1000, where he could sew up top seed for the Gold Coast and given himself the best chance to progressing to Sandown and Adelaide.
The 22-year-old won at last February’s Bathurst 500, has qualified second for the last two Bathurst 1000s, and finished runner-up at last year’s Great Race.
"Looking at the positives, we've been very fast the last couple of years at Bathurst and we've always been in there with the chance of winning,” Feeney said.
"The qualifying has been a big strength. We'll probably focus a bit more on the race car this time and getting that set up ready to go for what we know is going to be a big race.”
The season resumes at Mount Panorama on October 9-12, before The Finals commences at Surfers Paradise on October 24-26.
