Feeney surges past carnage, denies Kostecki in wild AGP sprint

Broc Feeney has denied Brodie Kostecki in a wild, action-packed Race 6 at the Melbourne SuperSprint, which saw Matt Payne crash out and Will Brown facing a fourth penalty in six races.

Kostecki tried and failed to displace Feeney in a thrilling run home, with Cam Waters and Kai Allen also within a second of the winning #88 Red Bull Ampol Ford.

In an extraordinary sprint, points leader Payne collided with James Golding on lap 1, before Brown was put under investigation over an incident with Cooper Murray. Brown also tangled with Aaron Cameron for the minor positions.

Feeney reclaimed the championship lead, with Payne 45 points behind. Kostecki moved up to second, 32 points behind, with Waters only two points behind Kostecki.

As cloud cover closed in on Albert Park, a dramatic and drawn out Formula 1 qualifying session pushed the race start time back 20 minutes.

Cameron challenged Feeney after the lights went out, and the pole man held on. Behind them, all hell broke loose: Jayden Ojeda was tipped into a spin, with Zach Bates and Rylan Gray going through the grass.

As Feeney led the field through Turn 2, Golding and Payne ran line astern, and side-to-side clash damaged both cars. The #19 Penrite Ford was left with three punctures, forcing Payne out of the race.

On lap 2, Chaz Mostert attacked Brown into Turn 9/10, forcing the #888 Red Bull Ampol Ford through the grass. As they hit the next braking zone, a three-into-one between Brown, Jack Le Brocq and Cooper Murray sent the latter into the gravel, triggering the Safety Car.

The race was neutralised, and Brown made front-to-rear contact with Mostert's Supra into Turn 3. Golding, meanwhile, took his damaged #7 CoolDrive Ford into pit lane.

The race restarted on lap 6, and Feeney immediately tried to get the jump on Cameron. Kostecki haunted the rear of Cameron's Ford, with Brown applying the blowtorch to Mostert. Kostecki picked off Cameron at the end of the lap, and set off after Feeney.

Brown cleared Mostert at Turn 1 on the next lap, allowing Allen through two corners later. Later around the lap, a squeeze between Wood, Randle and Macauley Jones put the latter into the barriers at Turn 5. Randle could only get 100 metres up the road before stopping, triggering a second Safety Car.

With the field released, a slide at the penultimate corner for Feeney opened the door to Kostecki, who showed the nose into Turn 3. Kostecki was trying everything, finding the grass verge through the back sweeper. On lap 11, Kostecki forced Feeney to defend into Turn 11.

In the battle for the minors, Waters displaced Cameron, who was wiped out by Brown through Turn 4 on lap 11. The damaged #888 and #3 Mustangs were forced into the garage.

On lap 12, contact between the leaders sent Feeney through the grass through the Turn 9/10 contact. Kostecki redressed the hit, but it brought Waters and Allen into play as the clock wound down.

On lap 14, Feeney again denied Kostecki through Turn 11, while Allen tried and failed to displace Waters for third. It set up a final lap thriller between the #88 and the #17. Feeney slid through the Turn 10 grass, and again, blocked Kostecki off.

Try as he might, Kostecki fell short by 0.1447s, with Waters 0.4910s from victory. Allen was fourth, with Mostert, Anton De Pasquale, David Reynolds, Cameron Hill, Andre Heimgartner and Le Brocq rounding out the top 10.

The Larry Perkins Trophy will be won in Sunday's Race 7, which will commence at 10:10am local time.