Finals Race: First Finals contenders locked in, Randle on bubble

The first group of drivers who will contest the Repco Supercars Finals Series have been confirmed following the Ipswich Batteries Ipswich Super 440, whilst the battle to make the top 10 tightened.

Broc Feeney clinched his Golden Ticket by becoming the inaugural winner of the Repco Sprint Cup off the back of two wins at Ipswich, taking his tally for the year to 12 from 24 completed races.

Whilst Feeney secured his berth with 25 bonus points to carry into the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500, there were two other drivers who mathematically sealed their places into the Finals Series.

Matt Payne jumped back into second in points following the dramatic conclusion to the Repco Sprint Cup on Sunday, and finished the weekend 642 points ahead of ninth-placed Ryan Wood.

With 600 points available across the Enduro Cup before the 10-driver Finals field is set, Payne is a mathematic certainty to remain in the championship hunt, covering off any potential threat of an outsider securing a Finals berth by becoming the Enduro Cup winner.

The same applies for Will Brown, who won his first race since the Australian Grand Prix weekend in March, and ended the weekend 632 points ahead of Wood despite a post-race penalty on Sunday.

The race to make the top 10 tightened significantly in Ipswich, with just 41 points covering Andre Heimgartner, Wood, Thomas Randle, and Kai Allen from eighth to 11th.

Randle was the biggest loser in the weekend, losing two positions and 78 points to 11th in the standings to be sitting right on the bubble in 10th, just 20 points ahead of rookie Allen. Allen out-scored Randle by 105 points for the round.

After Perth, Randle sat sixth, 169 points clear of 11th. In the three rounds since, he has finished 13th, 22nd, 19th, 13th, 21st, eighth, 10th, 19th and 14th, at an average finish of 15.4.

For the second time this year, Penrite Racing driver Allen claimed multiple podiums in one weekend, and as a result has moved ahead of Cameron Hill into 11th, gaining 60 points on the bubble.

A controversial run-in with fellow Canberran Zach Bates has seen Hill slip to 108 points away from a potential Finals berth, and will be relying on a strong Enduro Cup campaign for he and co-driver Cameron McLeod.

Just three rounds ago, Hill sat eighth in points.

Supercars Finals Race: Century Batteries Ipswich Super 440