Just when it looked like none of the title contenders would win Saturday’s 250km race in Adelaide, Broc Feeney stamped his authority to take the lead, take victory and with it, get his hands on the 2025 Supercars trophy.
THE Chevrolet Triple Eight The Camaro driver, who started from pole for a record 18th this season, seemed on his way to second place, while the Andretti United rickshaw Ford Mustang Ryan Wood controlled the 78-lap race from the front.
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But with a third of the race remaining and immediately after the title contenders made their second pit stop on consecutive laps, Feeney closed in on Wood and dove into his inside. Despite an intermittent engine misfire and a counterattack from Wood, Feeney immediately opened a small gap and continued to win.
“It was a tough time. I had a lot of adversity to overcome, I had a lot of problems early on,” Feeney said. “I thought I was done, to be honest. I felt like my engine was going to explode at any moment, I feared the worst.”
In a race where the four drivers competing for the title finished in the first five places, Chaz Mostert took second, helped by his teammate Wood who dropped back and allowed him to take second on the final corner, after being 12 seconds behind with four laps to go.
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Mostert started 12th and survived a long list of scares en route to second place. On lap 9, he fled into the grass on the pit straight to avoid Thomas Randle‘s Tickford Ford, having already received a warning for shortening the Senna chicane.
Then he hit a bunch of tires not once but twice – before coming into side-by-side contact with Austin Cindricas he made the rounds in regular NASCAR and wildcard Supercars.
“I drove like a demon, the pit stops gave me incredible strategy,” said Mostert, who shrugged off the clash with Randle.
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“I hit a little oil or a white line or something. Chaz’s lawn mowing service really worked!”
Wood, who famously defended the company’s course by describing his late-race slowdown as “extreme fuel economy”, finished third before a huge fight between the other finalists, Will Brown And Kai Allen. They made contact with three laps to go, but the Triple Eight Chevrolet driver held off Allen. Grove Race Ford. Allen, who qualified second, dropped to eighth on the grid when his car experienced engine problems during his top-10 shootout lap.
Ironically, Brown had his best qualifying result, fifth, in some time, but had to follow Feeney for much of the race, prompting the Triple Eight team to prioritize Feeney in pit strategy. In the final third of the race, Brown simply lacked the speed of his opponents, losing a place to Mostert.
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The other commendable effort came from rookie Aaron Cameron. After qualifying second, the Blanchard Racing Team The driver took an early lead before giving way to Wood, then retiring after hitting the concrete at Turn 3.
Apart from the clash with Mostert, Cindric had a rather clean race and finished last, taking 23rd place in his Tickford Racing Ford.
With his victory, Feeney’s 13-point lead in the race grew to 23. He leads with 5,214 ahead of Mostert with 5,191, Brown with 5,138 and Allen with 5,126.
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Supercars and drivers will return to the circuit on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. for qualifying for the 34th and final race of the season. The top 10 shootout is scheduled for 12:35 p.m., and the 78-lap race, with 125 points on offer to the winner, is set for 3:15 p.m. (all times are Central Australian Daylight Time).
Adelaide Supercars – Race 1 Results
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