Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!
On the weekend of March 21 – 24 was the Beaurepairs Melbourne Supersprint.
It was round 2 of the 2024 Supercars Championship and was held in Albert Park, Melbourne Victoria.
Supercars were the support category to the main event, The Rolex Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix.
This year marks the 25th year of Supercars racing as a support category for the Australian F1 Grand Prix. It was also the first time that the Supercars Sprints ran past sunset.
The Albert Park track is one of the longer circuits, 5.3 km with 14 turns.
Two drivers reached milestones at this event. In race 4 Will Davison reached his 550th race. Andre Heimgartner reached his 250th start. Both deserve a round applause for lasting this long in a very tough sport.
For Melbourne the weather was relatively fine and there were no interruptions to the event.
In the pre-race sessions:
- Macauley Jones was fastest in Practice 1
- Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 2
- Broc Feeney was also fastest in Qualifying for Race 3.
In Race 3 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Anton de Pasquale alongside him. The race was meant to be 19 laps but due to an extra formation lap it was only an 18-lap race.
Anton de Pasquale got the jump of the start line and led into turn 1. As they approached turn 3 Anton de Pasquale come in way too fast and ran wide. Broc Feeney pushed past and became the new leader with Anton de Pasquale back in second place. Will Brown was in third place followed by Nick Percat and then Chaz Mostert.
It was the beginning of a backward slide for Anton de Pasquale. First, he was passed by Will Brown, then Nick Percat and on the following lap Chaz Mostert.
To add to Anton de Pasquale’s problems, race control announced they were investigating him for possibly jumping too early at the start line.
Further back in the pack Cameron Waters got up the inside of Bryce Fullwood. Thomas Randle was helped off the track by Cameron Hill.
Nick Percat made contact with Chaz Mostert. It caused Mostert to fall way back to 10th place. All the other drivers between moved up a spot. Nick Percat was issued a 5 second penalty for his actions.
Jaxson Evans hit the wall coming out of turn 14. The damage on his car #12 was extensive. After visiting the pits he did manage to rejoin and complete the race.
Ryan Wood and James Golding made contact with each other.
Cameron Waters passed Anton de Pasquale for 5th place.
In the middle of the race Todd Hazelwood received a 5 second time penalty for making contact with Bryce Fullwood in car 14.
With 9 laps remaining the top 3 places had not changed but back in the pack battles were going on for the minor places.
On the following lap Nick Percat recorded the fastest lap of the race, 150.007s.
Drivers started to settle down and there was less contact between cars for the remainder of the race.
The top 3 cars still held on to their positions. In the end Broc Feeney crossed the finish line with a 2.2 second win over his teammate Will Brown. Nick Percat followed 1.4 seconds later to claim 3rd place.
For such a short race the leaders were spread out a little more than I would have expected.
Results for Race 3
1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Nick Percat – Matt Stone Racing
In Race 4 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Will Brown alongside him.
As they took off Will Brown got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 19 laps.
Anton de Pasquale was helped off the track by Matt Payne at turn 5. Anton de Pasquale had severe damage and he was down the order in 24th place. He then had to come in for repairs, but the damage was so bad he was unable to return to the race. He was the only driver to receive an NC (Not Complete).
The gap between Will Brown and Cameron Waters was tight, only 0.47 seconds. Broc Feeney was right behind them in third place.
Further back in the pack there was also a lot of action. Thomas Randle and Ryan Wood went off the track at turn 1 and dropped a couple of places.
Mark Winterbottom who had started 4th on the grid had slipped back but regained his position and was 0.432 seconds behind Broc Feeney.
Just before they reached the half way mark of the race Broc Feeney got up the inside of Cameron Waters. However, the manoeuvre caused them both to run wide and Mark Winterbottom took advantage to move up to second place.
It didn’t last long, and Broc Feeney passed him to take back 2nd place and Frosty had dropped back to third place.
Towards the end of the race the two Red Bull cars were looking strong for another 1 2 finish.
With 4 laps remaining Will Brown who was protect by his teammate Broc Feeney, then did the fastest lap of the race 149.720 seconds.
Thomas Randle was once again mixing it up with other drivers. He and Cameron Hill went off the track between turns 9 and 10 putting them both back a couple of places. Later Thomas Randle received a 15 second time penalty for causing the incident.
With only a couple laps remaining Broc Feeney made a driver error locking up the front right wheel. It was bad timing to make a mistake so close to the finish. It allowed Mark Winterbottom and Matt Payne to get between him and Will Brown in the lead.
Will Brown was cruising to yet another win for the season. He crossed the finish line with just under a 1 second lead over Mark Winterbottom. Matt Payne followed through in 3rd place right on his tail. Broc Feeney had no time to make up for his mistake but was also hot on their heels. It was a tight and exciting finish.
Results for Race 4
1st Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Mark Winterbottom – Team 18
3rd Matt Payne – Grove Racing
As mentioned before, the V8 Supercars were a support category to the AGP. By the time this race came up on the Saturday the delays resulted in it being cut short to try get back to the running schedule. It was cut from 19 to 14 laps and time certain putting pressure on drivers to be aggressive as possible.
In Race 5 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Matt Payne alongside.
As the lights went green Cameron Waters got the jump and led into turn 1. Chaz Mostert who was 3rd on the grid had a shocker of a start dropping 3 spots back to 6th place.
Between the final two corners of the first lap Matt Payne hit Cameron Waters from behind. They both lost control and spun off the track. Cameron Waters had extensive damage on the front left wheel and Matt Payne’s car was also in poor shape.
The two drivers behind them, Broc Feeney and Will Brown were handed the lead while Cameron Waters and Matt Payne started their walk back to the pits.
The race went under yellow for the stranded cars to be collected and the track cleaned up.
The tension could be felt everywhere as the clock and laps counted down.
The race restarted with Broc Feeney and Will Brown pulling away while the pack was 5 abreast approaching turn 1. It was mayhem and you got the feeling that the desperation was going to cause something terrible to happen.
With 4 laps remaining Broc Feeney only had a 0.556 second lead over Will Brown. Adding to the tension, Chaz Mostert in 3rd did the fastest lap of the race 148.389 seconds. That is a phenomenal time which was almost 1.5 seconds faster than the best time in the previous race.
Broc Feeney didn’t crack under the pressure. He must have been given nerves of steel from his mentor/manager Jamie Whincup.
The Payne/Waters incident causing the safety deployment at the end of lap 1 had Race Control make the time certain call to cut back to 10 laps.
Feeney held his spot and crossed the finish line 1.791 seconds ahead of his teammate Will Brown. Chaz Mostert came across 3rd only .931 seconds later.
Considering Broc Feeney started 4th and Will Brown 6th on the grid it was an unexpected outcome for such a short race. It was short but very tense.
Results for Race 5
1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
In Race 6 Chaz Mostert started on pole position. Alongside him was Matt Payne.
Anton de Pasquale was a non-starter and didn’t even make it to the grid in the final race of the weekend.
As they took off Matt Payne got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 14 laps. Chaz Mostert followed with Nick Percat right behind in 3rd.
Broc Feeney wasted no time and got up the inside of Cameron Waters to take 4th place.
Jack le Brocq was hit by another car and before the first lap was complete went to the pit lane due to damage sustained. He was the second driver in the race to receive an NC (Not Complete) after Anton de Pasquale’s NC for not even making it to the grid.
Things didn’t settle down after the first lap. On lap 2 the leaders, Matt Payne and Chaz Mostert became entangled and went off the track which put Nick Percat in the lead. It also pushed Broc Feeney up into second place. That was a big leapfrog in position considering Feeney started 6th on the grid.
Matt Payne probably wishes he didn’t make back to the track after his incident with Mostert. It was only a short time later that he was spun around by contact from Cameron Hill.
The lap 2 incident seemed to not want to go away. In the middle of the race after official review Chaz Mostert was given a 5 second time penalty for what was considered avoidable contact.
It was at this point Broc Feeney tried to make his move. He got up the inside of Nick Percat for the lead but Percat did the over and under manoeuvre to retake his place. Will Brown who was right behind also slipped under Broc Feeney. Once again, the top 3 positions had changed in an incredibly short race.
On the final lap Ryan Wood gave Cameron Hill a bump and put him in the gravel trap. Cameron Hill was stuck and became the third NC of this race. It must have been so frustrating that close to the finish.
The top 3 cars remained unchanged but had no space between them.
Nick Percat came across the finish line first only .381 of a second ahead of Will Brown. Broc Feeney followed through hot on their heels.
For Percat this win breaks a drought since Adelaide 2016.
Results for Race 6
1st Nick Percat – Matt Stone Racing
2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
Will Brown won the Larry Perkins Trophy for 2024.
He leads the championship by 17 points over his teammate Broc Feeney.
The next event is the ITM super400 April 19 – 21.
