Penrite Racing 'made us look pretty silly', says Feeney
Penrite Racing "made us look pretty silly", says Broc Feeney
Penrite Racing has two Fords in the top five in the championship
Triple Eight drivers still coming to grips with Mustang package
Broc Feeney says Penrite Racing "made us look pretty silly” in New Zealand, despite Triple Eight returning to Australia with both points leads.
Feeney seized the drivers’ championship lead and the Jason Richards Trophy in a manic Christchurch finale, with Red Bull Ampol Racing atop the teams’ points.
However, the Ford homologation team went winless across both weekends in New Zealand, with Penrite Racing (three wins), Shell V-Power Racing (two) and Walkinshaw TWG Racing (one) on top.
Feeney and teammate Will Brown are still coming to grips with their Gen3 Mustangs, after three seasons racing Gen3 Camaro machinery.
Penrite Racing and Dick Johnson Racing have regularly out-classed Triple Eight in recent rounds, and while Feeney knows that fact, the 23-year-old concedes there’s work to be done.
“Obviously we walk away with the [Jason Richards] Trophy, but we’re very far from where we want to be right now. [Penrite Racing] made us look pretty silly over the last couple of days [in Christchurch],” Feeney said in the press conference.
“I’m a Broncos man, but you watch a team like Penrith over the last couple of years and they keep turning up. They can have a tough one, but they keep getting points.
“For us, on our bad weekends to still be able to turn up and still get it done is awesome. But we know we need to be able to win races to fight for this championship.
“We did that at Round 1 but since then we’ve been on the back foot a little bit. We’re trying to understand what this car needs to go fast. Every weekend we’ve raced it, Sunday’s been a really strong result for us, bar the [Australian] Grand Prix.
“Last weekend in the second [Taupō] race we were really competitive. [Sunday in Christchurch] we were more competitive, but Matt [Payne], once again, made us all look pretty silly.
“So we’ve got a lot of work to do, we’ll keep digging.”
Kai Allen and Matt Payne won in Christchurch, with Brodie Kostecki winning in both Taupō and Christchurch. Feeney remains winless in New Zealand, but cast his eye towards upcoming Australian rounds to strike straight back.
“It’s always concerning when somebody beats you,” said Feeney, when asked about Penrite Racing’s form.
“You’re never happy when you get smoked. They’ve got some really smart guys there. They’ve done a great job, you can see the trajectory over the last couple of years. We just need to dig deep and start really understanding our package.
“I always say that once you get back home, the next few rounds is where the championship really kicks off. Sydney, Grand Prix, these New Zealand tracks, they are quite different to what we race on usually.
“Once we get back to Tassie, Perth, Darwin, those sorts of tracks, that’s where we built into a groove last year and went on a really good run.
“I’m looking forward to getting back and getting to work and trying to be a bit faster.”
The season resumes in Tasmania on May 22-24.
