Broc Feeney has denied Brodie Kostecki in a wild, action-packed Race 6 on Saturday at the Melbourne SuperSprint, which saw New Zealand’s 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 with one race remaining in Melbourne today.
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 after a dive by Cameron Hill on Zach Bates, who surfed through the grass with Rylan Gray.
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.
One final, and likely frenetic, Supercars race on the streets of Melbourne will wrap up the 2026 Melbourne SuperSprint this morning at the Formula One Australian Grand Prix.
Supercars has treated AusGP goers to wild action all weekend at Albert Park, with plenty of classic biff and barge throughout the three days of action so far.
2023 Supercars champion is the odds on favourite to take home the Larry Perkins Trophy today, awarded to the Supercars driver who scores the most points across the Supercars races at Albert Park.
With two wins and a second so far, Kostecki leads yesterday’s winner Broc Feeney by 41 points, with a maximum 80 available heading into this morning’s race.
The Repco Supercars season will then head for an historic double-header with the ITM Taupo Super 440 on 10-12 April ahead of the first ITM Christchurch Super 440 at Ruapuna Raceway on 17-19 April.
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