A lap 11 move on pole-sitter Thomas Randle proved decisive for Broc Feeney to take a runaway victory in the first race of the Snowy River Caravans Tasmania Super 440.
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After Randle got the jump, Feeney kept pace and made a bold lunge on lap 11, before benefiting from slow pit stops for his rivals to canter to victory in Race 11 ahead of his milestone 100th race later in the afternoon.
Randle came home a distant second ahead of Bryce Fullwood, who survived a fuel scare to christen Brad Jones Racing’s big Toyota news with a stunning podium finish.
Will Brown dropped from second in the first stint to fifth in the flag, and was unable to unseat Tickford Racing rival Cam Waters in the closing laps despite holding a grip advantage.
Heading into the afternoon’s Soft tyre race, Brown leads Waters by a reduced 29 points, with Feeney now 38 down. Matt Payne dropped to fourth, 80 points down, with Chaz Mostert and Brodie Kostecki 118 and 123 behind.
Randle got the jump as Feeney and Brown duelled through Turn 2. At Turn 4, Randle nearly threw it away, before Feeney launched a long attack on the pole-sitter.
On lap 6, Randle remonstrated over team radio over the performance of his rivals’ engines, while Feeney complained over the Tickford driver’s late moves.
Kiwi Matt Payne claims Race 10 at home | 01:28
On lap 11, Feeney speared down the inside at the hairpin, with the two cars running line astern down the back straight. As Randle looked to return serve at Turn 6, Brown got down the inside through Turn 7, forming a Triple Eight one-two.
Feeney opened up a 0.8s lead by lap 17, with Waters 3.2s down in fourth. Behind them, Macauley Jones tipped Will Davison into a spin at the hairpin as they disputed 15th. Jones was quickly hit with a 15-second penalty, which he served at his stop.
Nick Percat was first to stop on lap 18, but encountered a slow stop. Jack Le Brocq stopped and emerged ahead of the leaders, with Feeney having built a one-second lead. Feeney was brought in on lap 25, and was fitted with four tyres.
Brown assumed the lead, but was forced to baulk behind Richie Stanaway as the latter rejoined after his stop. Randle made a significant gain as Brown slotted in behind Stanaway. Both Brown and Randle suffered slow stops; Brown took on four tyres, and Randle two. Crucially, both dropped behind Fullwood.
Waters stopped, and lost out to Jaxon Evans on the run to the hairpin. The Sydney winner fell into the clutches of Brown, who had a grip advantage. The reigning champion, however, was 10 seconds behind teammate Feeney.
With 15 laps to go, the duelling Wood and Evans opened the door for Waters to get through into fourth. On the following lap, Randle cleared Fullwood for second through Turn 6, but by then, Feeney had pulled 6.5s clear.
Brown picked off Wood for fifth on lap 38, but had to close on Waters once again. The reigning champion reeled in his Ford rival and ranged in on lap 42. Waters was wise to the attack and defended through Turn 6.
Waters managed to hold on, with Fullwood also getting home despite being tight on fuel. All drivers had nothing for Feeney, who claimed maximum points with victory and the fastest lap.
Wood, Evans, Kostecki, James Golding and James Courtney rounded out the top 10, with Mostert 15th and Payne 16th.
Saturday’s Tasmania action will conclude with Race 12 at 3:55pm local time.
This article first appeared on supercars.comand was reproduced with permission.