Feeney denies Waters in Darwin crash-fest

Broc Feeney has denied Cam Waters in an incident-packed Race 17 at the betr Darwin Triple Crown, which was headlined by big hits for Jaxon Evans and Jack Le Brocq.

A bold four-tyre stop brought Waters to the back of Feeney in the closing laps, but the championship leader had enough time in reserve to bring home a fifth win in seven starts.

A rampant Waters claimed fastest lap points and a first podium since Tasmania, with Matt Payne rounding out the podium ahead of Darwin-born Bryce Fullwood, James Courtney, Chaz Mostert, Nick Percat, Will Brown, Brodie Kostecki and Andre Heimgartner.

It was Feeney's sixth win of the season, seeing his advantage at the head of the Repco Supercars Championship standings extend after a difficult race for teammate Will Brown, but Feeney didn't have it all his own way.

"It was super hard there, it was a shame at the start. Doing the speeds we were doing the Safety Car couldn't pull away so I couldn't go to the straight and unfortunately crashes happen then," said Feeney.

"We had a bit of adversity come over there, I had a clutch issue during that race, it was super stressful. I didn't know how I was going to go, I was real slow coming into the lane.

"It's awesome fun, Cam chasing me down, it was super hard out there. Hot, stressing, and I had lots of stuff going on in my head, but stoked to walk away with the first win here."

The race was neutralised by the bp pulse Safety Car immediately after a big hit exiting Turn 1 for Evans, before Le Brocq's race ended abruptly in a hairy restart stack-up triggered by an engine failure for Ryan Wood.

As the lights went out, Feeney defended from Waters, and held on around Turn 1. That was where Evans' race ended, courtesy of a collision with Richie Stanaway. The contact sent Evans onto the grass, into the Armco barrier, and out on the spot. At Turn 4, Anton De Pasquale turned Macauley Jones into a spin.

After the first Safety Car restart, Waters challenged Feeney, while Wood pulled to the left with engine issues. The slowing Wood backed up the field, seeing Le Brocq sent into the wall by Cameron Hill. Brown also sustained damage, with Le Brocq and Wood stopping on the run to Turn 1.

At Turn 5, David Reynolds was tipped into a spin by Percat, with Richie Stanaway climbing over the #10 Bendix Chevrolet. The Safety Car was deployed for a second time, with Stanaway forced into the garage.

Feeney led the field to green on lap 11, and Kostecki pounced on Payne at Turn 1. In one green lap, Feeney opened up a 0.4s lead over Waters, as Race Control advised the Safety Car restart was under investigation. Kostecki was also hit with a five-second penalty over his contact on Payne.

As Stanaway returned to the race, De Pasquale and Percat took right side tyres on lap 17. By that stage, Feeney's lead over Waters was 0.7s, with Kostecki dropping off the back of the Monster Mustang.

Fullwood, Brown and Murray stopped on lap 19, with Payne and Hill coming in on the following lap. Payne rejoined just ahead of Fullwood, with Feeney's lead breaching one second on lap 25.

Waters and Kostecki followed Feeney in on lap 27. Feeney emerged just ahead of a racy Payne, while a four-tyre stop dropped Waters behind Payne, Fullwood and Courtney. Waters quickly picked off Fullwood and Courtney, and had 11 laps to find 3.4s on Feeney.

Waters cleared Payne with eight laps to go, but had a mountain to climb to mow down and pass Feeney. Heimgartner, who started 21st and ran long, finally stopped and rejoined 10th, handing the lead back to Feeney.

Try as he might, Waters fell 1.727s short of Feeney, who won his fourth race at Hidden Valley in his last five starts.

Supercars action resumes on Saturday with Race 18 at 3:10pm local/3:40pm AEST.