Waters superb, Feeney luckless: Key questions to be answered

The 2025 Repco Supercars Championship is underway, and how!

While the same name was at the top all weekend, the Thrifty Sydney 500 - Opening Round was an action-packed, headline-packed spectacle that lit the fuse for a big year.

Cam Waters was him, winning from pole on all three days to build an early lead over reigning champion Will Brown and Chaz Mostert. Broc Feeney sits fourth, but the 2024 runner-up's weekend was a genuine rollercoaster.

There's plenty to unpack, as we dive into five key questions below.

The greatest Supercars race of all time?

Zac: It captured the attention of the motorsport world, and has divided opinions among the Supercars.com team about where it ranks, but there is no doubt that Race 2 on Saturday was one of the greatest Supercars races of all-time. Cam Waters' supreme pace (more below) was nearly outdone by some crafty pit lane manoeuvring from the Red Bull Ampol Racing Team, and an aggressive tyre strategy that relied heavily on car speed atoning for poor track position. The race seemed to be boiling down to a straight fight between Waters and Broc Feeney, only for the pair to come to blows four laps from the finish at Turn 4, inviting Will Brown into the frame. What followed was three and a half laps of some of the best Supercars racing you could ever see, culminating in one of the most thrilling conclusions you could get to any motor race. Where it stacks up compared to races like the 2014 Bathurst 1000 and the 2017 season finale in Newcastle will perhaps only become clear with time, but those in attendance were treated to something truly special.

Have Waters, Tickford banished 2024 demons?

James: 12 months ago, a stick Cam Waters left Round 1 in Bathurst so far off the pace, that his championship charge arguably ended there and then. A slimmed-down Tickford Racing got off to a torrid start, and through three rounds, Waters was too far back. To start this strongly and perfectly, yes, Waters has left his nightmare of 2024's early rounds firmly for dead. For Tickford, though, the jury could still be out given how cutthroat the Grand Prix is. Waters drove like a driver in the form of his life, but it's one weekend. If Tickford wants to take this all the way, they have to prove it at the Grand Prix.

Will getting pipped on Saturday make or break Feeney?

Zac: The other half of the equation on Saturday night was Broc Feeney, who had what appeared to be an almost certain victory stolen in the final metres of the 200km race, with Feeney cutting a dejected figure. The 22-year-old Queenslander felt aggrieved by Waters' hard driving in getting the win, but promised to get his elbows out on Sunday, which he duly did through Turn 1 around the outside of Waters off the start. However, it was the Monster man who boxed him out at Turn 2, with Will Brown sliding through, before Feeney lost a podium after a clash with a lapped Cooper Murray. After three front row starts, all Feeney had to show for it was a self-inflicted puncture on Friday, heartbreak on Saturday, and a drop to fifth on Sunday. For someone who should be a championship contender to walk away fourth in points after three front rows is arguably not a strong enough conversion rate, especially when his teammate is second in points, and Waters has already flown to a 99-point advantage. Feeney had to bounce back after losing the 2024 title to then-new teammate Brown, and especially after his run-in with Mostert in the Adelaide finale, losing the New Zealand Grand Prix to Brown from pole, and mechanical heartbreak in the Bathurst 12 Hour. The next three weeks leading up to the Melbourne SuperSprint will be a huge test of Feeney's character, as he needs to prove his championship capabilities sooner rather than later.

What to make of Brodie's DJR debut

James: If you told Brodie Kostecki he'd leave Sydney eighth in the championship, with finishes of sixth, 14th and fourth, would he have taken it? When we bumped into him after the track, the big smile on his face suggested he had. Dick Johnson Racing's newest star was never far from the action in Sydney, and ended his weekend with a stunning around-the-outside move on Broc Feeney as rain made for treacherous conditions. Starting with a new team is never easy, even if you have the same engineer, in Brodie's case. But the 2023 champ showed time and again that he should be a factor in this year's championship story. It wasn't easy for DJR; Will Davison had a stinker, being hit and suffering reliability issues in the first two races, before clinching a hard-earned top 10. Both cars had issues under the bonnet, yet the team still picked up valuable points on a weekend it wasn't throwing big punches. When it does, watch out...

Can Chaz drag WAU into a title fight again?

James: With finishes of second, fourth and third, Chaz Mostert left Sydney with a strong haul of 250 points. He left Round 1 last year with 267, and was 21 points behind. He's 17 points worse off and 65 points behind Cam Waters, but Mostert is in the hunt, even if he wasn't at his brilliant best. The Sunday Shootout spin was bizarre, and not a mistake we're used to seeing. Starting eighth on Friday also left Mostert with work to do, but on both occasions, he finished on the podium. The one time he started towards the front, Waters and the Bulls were clearly stronger, even if the late tear-ups brought him closer. With a big swag of points and two trophies on a weekend he wasn't even the strongest Ford driver, Mostert will be pleased, but there's a long way to go...