Feeney fends off field for Tassie win

A lap 11 move on pole-sitter Thomas Randle proved decisive for Red Bull’s Broc Feeney who claimed a runaway victory in the first race of the Snowy River Caravans Tasmania Super 440.

After Randle got the jump off the start, 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.

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.

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.

“Obviously stoked to get the win again, absolutely chuffed with that, the thing was a rocket ship,” said Feeney, who claimed his 14th win in 99 career starts.

“I knew on the first few laps I probably had the speed, so I just had to wait for my time to get past Thomas, and he was driving fantastic.

“For sure it was the moment that I took the lead, and Will was able to get into second as well, so it’s unfortunate not to have him up here with me but stoked for the team, obviously great bounce back, but this thing was pretty fast then.”

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.

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.

Saturday’s Tasmania action will conclude with Race 12 at 3:55pm local time.

The Snowy River Caravans Tasmania Super440 takes place May 9-11 at Symmons Plains Raceway outside Launceston, and will be broadcast live on Foxtel, with live streaming available on Kayo.