Tag Archives: ITM Taupo Super 440 2025

Century Batteries Ipswich Super440 2025

Hi to all you Supercars Fans Around the world!

On August 8 – 10 was the Century Batteries Ipswich Super 440. It was round 8 of the 2025 Supercars Championship and the final round of the sprint cup.

The event was held at the Queensland Raceway located in the suburb of Willowbank in the city of Ipswich, Queensland.  It was first opened in 1999 and hosts an annual Supercars event.

Craig Lowndes holds the record for the most wins at the Queensland Raceway with 12 victories. He is also the only driver to have competed in every Supercars round at the circuit.

This year the Ipswich Super 440 marked special milestones for two drivers. James Courtney started his 600th race and Cameron Waters started his 300th.

The weekend kicked off with the pre-race sessions. The results were:

  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 1
  • Will Brown was fastest in Practice 2
  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Qualifying

As they did the formation lap to take their place on the grid for Race 23 Chaz Mostert’s brake pedal gave way. He had to head into the garage to resolve the problem before they even started. After repairs he started from the pitlane a few laps behind everyone else.

Broc Feeney started on pole position with teammate Will Brown alongside him. Feeney got the jump off the start line and led through turns 1 and 2 for the first of 39 laps.

By the start of lap 2 Broc Feeney already had a lead of 1.180 seconds. Will Brown had fallen back to 4th place after Kai Allen and Ryan Wood got past him.

By lap 3 Broc Feeney had a 2.050 second lead followed by Kai Allen in 2nd place.

Andre Heimgartner was the first car to pit on lap 4 if you exclude Mostert, who was in the garage before the race even started.

On lap 5 Brodie Kostecki got up the inside of Anton de Pasquale for 5th place behind Will Brown. Meanwhile, Broc Feeney had nearly doubled his lead time to 4.065 seconds over Kai Allen.

Jack le Brocq ran wide at turn 3 but he was able to get back on track unassisted but dropped back to 22nd place.

Will Davison forced Jack le Brocq off the track and was later issued a 15 second time penalty.

Ryan Wood pitted on lap 19 from 3rd place along with Nick Percat and Richie Stanaway.

By the middle of the race Broc Feeney had increased his lead to a whopping 9.049 seconds. His teammate Will Brown had worked his way back into 2nd place. To avoid the possibility of a double stack in the pits with Feeney, Brown came in early on lap 24.

On lap 31 with 8 laps remaining, Broc Feeney was ripping up the track in the lead and recorded the fastest lap, 109.263 seconds.

Lap 36 saw David Reynolds along with Chaz Mostert in the sand trap. The safety car was deployed while the 2 cars were rescued.

Under “safety conditions”, drivers are limited to 80kph and must stay in formation behind the safety car. Unfortunately, this completely demolished Broc Feeney’s incredible lead.

As they bunched up and slowly trailed the safety car they reached the end of the 39 lap race, without any opportunity for last second competition.

Broc Feeney crossed the finish line first, followed by Kai Allen and then Ryan Wood.

Race 23 Results:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Kai Allen – Grove Racing
3rd Ryan Wood – Walkinshaw Andretti United

In Race 24 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Ryan Wood alongside him.

Broc Feeney got the jump off the start line for the first of 39 laps.

Will Brown passed Ryan Wood at turn 1. As the rest of the pack came through there was contact between Brodie Kostecki, Jack le Brocq, Cooper Murray, Cameron Crick, Aaron Cameron, Jaxson Evans and Cameron Hill. There was a mess of cars all over the place including the gravel trap. Some were not able to get going again and the safety car was deployed.

The restart was on lap 4 with the top 3 places unchanged. Jamess Courtney who navigated his way through the lap 1 chaos had moved up 10 spots to 15th after starting at the back of the pack.

Amongst others, Brodie Kostecki was still in the garage from the lap 1 incident.

Meanwhile, the officials investigated Broc Feeney for lurching forward before the race start. They issued him a 5 second time penalty for a ‘false start’ which he had to serve during his next pit stop.

Possibly out of frustration at receiving a time penalty, Broc Feeney recorded the fastest circuit time of 109.782 seconds on lap 8.

The first 2 cars to pit were Bryce Fullwood and Matt Payne on lap 14.

By the middle of the race Broc Feeney still maintained the number 1 spot. However, the race leaders were still yet to pit while everybody else had taken their mandatory stops.

With 17 laps to go Broc Feeney pitted and served his additional 5 second penalty. This allowed Will Brown to take over as race leader.

Feeney was on the charge chasing down Will Brown. They were both way ahead of the others. Feeney really wanted the win but Will Brown held strong to the end and crossed the finish line first by a margin of 0.940 seconds. It was a huge 8.3 seconds later that Ryan Wood led the rest pack across the finish line for 3rd place.

The final chase between teammates Feeney and Brown was a real nail biter!

Race 24 Results:

1st Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Ryan Wood – Walkinshaw Andretti United

For the 3rd time out of 3 races Broc Feeney started on pole position. Alongside him was Ryan Wood.

As they took off Broc Feeney led Ryan Wood and Will Brown through the first of the 63 laps in the race.

It wasn’t long after the start that the forecasted rain arrived. Regardless of the forecast, I don’t think anyone was prepared for it to be bucketing down like it was. All the cars had slick (dry weather) tyres on. It was going to get messy.

In the first of many incidents caused by the wet weather, Ryan Wood chasing the leader Broc Feeney, almost spun a full 360 as they went through a turn. Somehow, he managed to stay on track.

James Courtney was the first driver to pit on lap 4 to change onto wet weather tyres. He rejoined in 26th place.

Will Davison made contact with Jack le Brocq and was given a 5 second time penalty.

On lap 10 Broc Feeney recorded the fastest lap so far, 109.976 seconds. Not a bad result considering the conditions.

Chaz Mostert in 7th place was the first of the front runners to pit.

Leader, Broc Feeney pitted on lap 29 and came back out onto the circuit in 4th place. The strategy was perfect. The 3 drivers ahead were still yet to pit. When they did Feeney would once again have the lead.

Cameron Crick was slid off the track and got bogged in a sand trap at turn 6. The safety car was deployed so Crick’s car could be removed.

On the restart Broc Feeney had already passed Ryan Wood for 4th place and he had 3 more cars to pass to get to the race lead.

By the middle of the race everybody had completed their second stops and it was a sprint to the finish.

With 26 laps to go Broc Feeney only had 2 cars to pass to regain the race lead.

Shortly after Anton de Pasquale had smoke coming out of the back of the car.

Will Brown got turned around at turn 3 by Ryan Wood, dropping Brown from 5th all the way down to 23rd position.

Soon Feeney was just 0.386 seconds off Cameron Waters in the lead.

With 20 laps remaining Broc was back in the lead. He remained cool under pressure and made no mistakes.

As it got closer to the race ending, Feeney kept inching ahead.

He crossed the finish line 8.809 seconds ahead of Cam Waters. Kai Allen earned 3rd place about 1 ½ seconds later.

What a great finish for the finale of the weekend.

Race 25 results:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
3rd Kai Allen – Grove Racing.

Broc Feeney won the sprint cup and the golden ticket to the finals. He also has a 337 points lead over Will Brown in the season championship ladder.

The teams are now preparing for the Enduro cup at the Bend and Bathurst.

The next event is the Air Touch 500 at The Bend September 12 – 14, 2025.

ITM Taupo Super 440 2025

Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of April 11-13 was the ITM Taupo Super 440, round 3 of the 2025 Supercars championship.

It was held at the Taupo International Motorsport Park in Taupo, New Zealand.

Taupo raceway was first opened in 1959 by the Taupo Car Club. It was basically a dirt track in the countryside with the volcanic mountain Mount Tauhara in the background.

After changing hands in 2022 and finally in 2024 hosted it’s first Australian V8-Supercars event. After this event (in 2025) Supercars will be hosting next year’s NZ event at a different circuit.

This event started on Friday the 11th of April and the weather was sunny all weekend.

In the pre-race sessions:

  • Andre Heimgartner was fastest in Practice 1
  • Ryan Wood was fastest in Practice 2
  • Matt Payne was fastest in Qualifying

In Race 8 Matt Payne started on pole position with Brodie Kostecki alongside him.

Matt Payne got the jump off the start line and led into turn 1 for the first of 37 laps.

Cooper Murray and Cameron Hill came into contact on lap 3. Cameron Hill was later deemed at fault and issues a 15 second time penalty.

After numerous attempts Ryan Wood finally passed Will Davison for 4th place.

Chaz Mostert was turned around by Thomas Randle at turn 1 dropping Mostert from 7th to 21st place. Thomas Randle received a 15 second time penalty for his actions.

Matt Payne then did the fastest lap of the race 1.28.075 seconds. He had a 1.3 second lead over Brodie Kostecki in second place.

Nick Percat was the first to pit on lap 9.

Macauley Jones was slowing approaching turn 2 and finally came to a stop. The safety car was deployed to remove his car because it was in an awkward spot of the turn. Excepting the front runners the whole field took the opportunity to take their pit-stops. The pit lane was chaotic.

The restart was on lap 16 and Matt Payne still had control followed by Cameron Waters and Anton de Pasquale in 3rd place. Kostecki had lost 2nd place when he chose to pit while the race was under safety car.

Ryan Wood passed Thomas Randle for 5th place his next target was Jack le Brocq in 4th place.

It was the middle of the race and Cameron Waters was applying maximum pressure on Matt Payne for the lead.

With 9 laps remaining James Courtney gave Cooper Murray a helping hand off the track. The safety car was not needed so the race continued.

The leading cars remained the same. In the last laps Ryan Wood was desperately attacking Cam Waters for second place. With Waters on the defence, Matt Payne was able to keep well ahead of the two.

Matt Payne’s faultless driving took him over the finish line 4.1 seconds ahead of Cameron Waters. Ryan Wood was right on Waters’ tail just 0.797 seconds behind in 3rd place.

Results for Race 8:

1st Matt Payne – Grove Racing

2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

3rd Ryan Wood – Walkinshaw Andretti United

In Race 9 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position alongside him was Chaz Mostert.

At the start of the race Chaz Mostert got the jump over Brodie Kostecki and led into turn 1 and 2 for the first of 37 laps.

Broc Feeney got away to an unbelievable start from the second row of the grid but soon lost the places he had gained. Will Brown gained 1 spot up to 4th.

Officials were busy investigating a false start for Matt Payne and further back in the pack there was contact between Cooper Murray and David Reynolds.

Brodie Kostecki stuck close to Chaz Mostert in the lead. On lap 18 Kostecki found a gap and used it to overtake Mostert.

In the middle of the race Chaz Mostert was driving aggressively to take back his lead from Brodie Kostecki. It was so aggressive that when Mostert passed Kostecki, Kostecki left the track onto the grass. He kept the chase on Mostert going.

Soon after the two leaders came into the pits. Kostecki made some sort of judgement error and hit the wall reasonably hard coming into pit lane. The right side of his car was pretty smashed in.

As the race was reaching its conclusion, Brodie Kostecki ran wide after a nudge from Chaz Mostert. Mostert stayed in the lead but the incident allowed Will Davison to slip past Kostecki.

With a clear track and clean air Mostert was able to build on his lead. In the end he crossed the finish line 6.476 seconds ahead of Will Davison in 2nd place.  Brodie Kostecki managed to keep 3rd place and came across the line 2.715 seconds later.

Results for Race 9:

1st Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

2nd Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing Team

3rd Brodie Kostecki – Shell V-Power Racing Team

In Race 10 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position with Anton de Pasquale alongside him.

As they took off Brodie Kostecki got the jump into turn 1 for the first of 61 laps. Anton de Pasquale ran wide and Kai Allen got turned around at turn 1 sending both down the order. Ryan Wood was trying to take the lead off Brodie Kostecki but with both drivers running wide, Cameron Hill was able to overtake them for the lead in one manoeuvre. Brodie Kostecki had now dropped down to 7th place.

Ryan Wood was later issued a time penalty for a driving infringement when trying to overtake Kostecki.

Matt Payne was in 2nd place and was in a prime spot to win the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy for the event. Thomas Randle passed Ryan Wood for 3rd place at turn 1 on lap 2.

On lap 5 the Ryan Wood recorded the fastest lap of the race, 128.5 seconds.

Kia Allen had smoke coming out of the right rear mud guard of car 26. He kept going until he had to come in for his pit stop.

Matt Payne took the race lead at turn 3 on lap 8  and was now followed by Thomas Randle while Cameron Hill dropped into 3rd place.

Further back Brodie Kostecki was keen to regain his position up the front and passed Anton de Pasquale for 6th place.

Macauley Jones was turned around by Cameron Waters on lap 11. Somehow, he managed to rescue himself without the safety car intervening.

The first car to pit was Will Brown in 10th place on lap 12. He returned to the track in 24th place.

In the middle of the race Matt Payne was leading by 1.4 seconds over Cameron Hill. Thomas Randle was back in third 1.9 seconds away from the race lead.

Towards the end of the race Matt Payne was looking strong to claim another victory for the weekend and therefore have enough points to claim the Jason Richards memorial trophy. He had enough of a lead so he wasn’t under immediate threat. He had a clear track and clean air. He only had to focus on maintain his speed and not making any errors of his own.

He crossed the finish line 3.194 seconds ahead of Cameron Hill. It was 5.094 seconds back to Chaz Mostert in 3rd place. After initially losing so much ground, Brodie Kostecki amazingly managed to climb back to 4th place ahead of Thomas Randle in 5th. Although the front runners were spread apart it was still a very exciting finish.

Results for Race 10:

1st Matt Payne – Grove Racing

2nd Cameron Hill – Matt Stone Racing

3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United.

The next event is the Snowy River Caravans Tasmania Super 440 May 9 – 11, 2025.

Till I catch ya next time, keep revving!