'Still 500k's to do': Brown, Feeney unmoved by Mostert's fast start
Will Brown, Broc Feeney unmoved by Chaz Mostert's fast start
Mostert second in both Sandown practice sessions, fastest of Finals Drivers
Brown spun late in Practice 2, Feeney was fourth fastest late on
Will Brown and Broc Feeney believe there’s more speed to find at Sandown on a day Chaz Mostert threw the biggest punches of the Finals Drivers.
Walkinshaw Andretti United star Mostert, who won both Gold Coast races, wound up second in Friday’s two practice sessions at Sandown. In contrast, points leader Feeney was 18th and fourth, with Brown — who spun at Turn 3 late in the afternoon session — 11th and seventh.
Mostert and Cam Waters (ninth and eighth) were the only Finals Drivers to finish both sessions in the top 10, with Team 18 pacing both 30-minute hit outs.
Speaking afterwards, Mostert was pleased with his performance, saying: “Good confidence building day for us, I think we were second in the first session and second in the second session.
“Got a little bit of tuning to do to make the car better, trying to a few little things, but the car feels like it’s kind of around the window. I can hopefully sleep a bit nicer tonight, and we’ll see what weather we’ve got in store for us tomorrow."
Brown and Feeney were happy to find gains versus Practice 1, but admitted they both have work to do overnight.
“I stuffed up on my second lap and just got a bit loose out at [Turn] 3, but we've got a little bit of work to do,” Brown said.
"I think it's just tough out there right now. I don't think there's high grip. It's a low grip surface and drivers always whinge when it's low grip, but you know, you could have the best car and still whinge. Hopefully we can just find a little bit and get up into that top five."
When asked about Mostert’s comments, Brown quipped “There's still 500k's to do yet.
"Won't get ahead of ourselves… it’s a bit of grip all-round. We'll find it. These guys and girls in this team do an amazing job overnight and always turn us around, but I don't think we're that far off now."
Triple Eight is under the microscope, given the team has won 11 of the last 12 Sandown races. Feeney is a comfortable leader, but Brown is in the drop zone in fifth.
Finals rivals Matt Payne (12th and 15th), Kai Allen (19th and 16th) and Thomas Randle (10th and 13th) were also down relative to Mostert, with Feeney finding speed on a green tyre to ease his overnight concerns.
“It was good to jump up towards the pointy end in that last run when we put a tyre on. But we've been off the pace, we've been down the back of the order for most of the day,” said Feeney, who gave a wry smile when asked about Mostert’s comments.
“We've got a bit to work on. As I said, it's good to jump up at the end. Makes your sleep a little bit better tonight, but we've still got a fair bit of work to do.
"I suppose the big difference is coming from Gold Coast, you come from a very new surface. You come to Sandown, which is probably the oldest surface that we're going to drive on.
“You're just driving around with less grip. So, we're just trying to find more grip, pretty much. I'm sure everyone up and down pit lane's got their own struggles, but we've made it better. The green tyre probably helps mask it a little bit.”
Saturday's Penrite Oil Sandown 500 action begins at 11:50am AEDT with Boost Mobile Qualifying, followed by the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout at 12:40pm. Race 30 will start at 3:20pm.
