Tag Archives: Matt Naulty

Supercars

BP Adelaide Grand Final 2025

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the 27 – 30 November 2025 was the BP Adelaide Grand Final, the final event for the season.

The Adelaide Street circuit was first opened on the 31st of October 1985, so this year marks its 40th anniversary.

Supercars had their first event here in 1999 and has been part of the season every year except 2021. That was due to COVID 19.

This year it was Round 13 and the final event of the 2025 Supercars Championship.

In the pre-race sessions:

  • Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 1
  • Cameron Waters was also fastest in Practice 2
  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Qualifying

In Race 32 Broc Feeney started on pole position, alongside him was Chaz Mostert.

Broc Feeney took the lead from the start line for the first of 32 laps. Chaz Mostert, Cameron Waters and Ryan Wood followed close behind. Chaz Mostert passed Broc Feeney at turn 9 but Feeney took back the lead at the next corner. They took turns at passing each other over the opening laps.

While the two drivers battled with each other, Brodie Kostecki snuck through to take the lead on lap 3.

He held the number 1 spot and by the middle of the race Brodie Kostecki had a 2.1 second lead over Chaz Mostert. It was a further 6.2 seconds back to Ryan Wood in 3rd place.

As they passed the race halfway mark, the rain started to come down a lot heavier.

On lap 20 Thomas Randle hit the wall at turn 8 and became stranded by the time he reached the next bend. The yellow flag went up, and the safety car was deployed.

 Meanwhile the “course car” checked track conditions. The heavy rain was deemed too dangerous to continue and the race went from yellow to red.

The race never restarted so ended at lap 21 and Brodie Kostecki was announced as the winner.

Race 32 results:

1st Brodie Kostecki – Shell V-Power Racing Team
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
3rd Ryan Wood – Walkinshaw Andretti United

In Race 33 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Aaron Cameron alongside him.

As they took off Broc Feeney got the lead in the first of 78 laps.

At turn 5 Aaron Cameron pulled off a magnificent manoeuvre around the outside of Feeney to take the lead.

Ryan Wood also managed to slip by to take second place. Broc Feeney was now pushed back to 3rd.

After a few more bends Ryan Wood took the race lead off Aaron Cameron.

On lap 6 Broc Feeney reported to his team that he had a misfire in the engine.

Ryan Wood recorded the quickest lap of a 120.519 seconds on lap 7.

On lap 9 Aaron Cameron hit the wall coming out of turn 3 which damaged the car. He was able to get the car out of the way under his own power and headed to the pits. The car damage was too severe to repair immediately so was withdrawn from the race.

At around this time James Golding received a 5 second pitstop penalty from race stewards for a false start at the beginning of the race.

Ryan Wood still had the lead followed by the two Red Bull Ampol Racing drivers, Broc Feeney and Will Brown.

On lap 28 Ryan Wood ran the fastest lap, 120.093 seconds.

Ryan Wood held the lead till the final stages of the race. Broc Feeney had been chasing him for 10s of laps and finally found his opportunity to take over. There were 3 drivers ahead of him, but they still had to take their mandatory pit stops.

Once the 3 drivers took their pit stops Feeney was truly in the lead.

While Chaz Mostert and Ryan Wood were battling it out over 2nd and 3rd, Feeney edged away from the pack.

Ryan Wood was running low on fuel and instructed to ‘conserve’. Regardless, he still managed to continue his battle with Chaz Mostert while Feeney’s speed inched him further ahead.

Feeney’s lead was secured. He was well ahead of the others and under no threat. He just had to ensure he made no errors of his own.

By the time he crossed the finish line he had a 16+ seconds lead over Chaz Mostert. Ryan Wood came in 3rd place less than 1 second later.

Race 33 Results:

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

Race 34 was the final race for the weekend and the season. The points based on the new ‘knockout finals rounds’ were close together. This, the final race was the make or break moment for the 2 remaining drivers of the finals, Broc Feeney and Chaz Mostert.

For the 3rd time out of 3 races at this event, Broc Feeney started on pole position. This was his record breaking 19th pole start for the year, which had contributed to 14 wins this season.

Alongside him on the front line of the starting grid was Matt Payne.

As the lights went green Broc Feeney got the jump off the start line, but Matt Payne led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 78 laps.

Meanwhile Broc Feeney, the championship leader was battling with Ryan Wood for second and third place. At turn 6 Feeney saw a gap and eagerly attempted to make the pass. However, the aggressive move crowded Wood who did nothing to avoid a collision and Feeney was spun around.

Feeney dropped to 23rd place at the back of the pack. After watching the replays, race stewards issued Ryan Wood with a 15 second time penalty.

Before the first lap finished Jack Le Brocq who was right at the back of the field in 25th place, had his bonnet fly open and block his view. The safety car was deployed.

The safety car was of benefit to Broc Feeney. While under ‘yellow’ flag the cars must stay in formation (no overtaking) behind the safety car and limited to 80kmph. It allowed the pack to compress behind the safety car and Feeney gained several critical track seconds. His opportunity for a championship win was still alive.

The restart on lap 5 still had Matt Payne in the lead followed by Ryan Wood, Anton de Pasquale and Chaz Mostert.

Ryan Wood was not deterred by his earlier incident with Feeney. On lap 9 he recorded the fastest lap so far, 120.181 seconds and was only 0.246 seconds behind the leader Matt Payne.

Broc Feeney was not just dreaming of a championship. He was putting in the work. Between the restart on lap 5 and lap 10 he moved from 23rd place to 14th.

On lap 11 Chaz Mostert passed Anton de Pasquale for third place and was only 1.528 seconds away from the race lead.

With 67 laps remaining there was time for a lot to happen. Could Feeney make it back to the front of the pack? Could Mostert take the lead and not look back?

The first car to pit in this race was Kai Allen on lap 17.

Over the next few laps Broc Feeney managed to move through the field and get by Will Davision for 10th place.

EOS 16

They cycled through their pit stops and by the middle of the race Matt Payne had assumed control followed by Chaz Mostert and Anton de Pasquale.

Will Brown passed Anton de Pasquale to take up third place.

Feeney reported his car was missing a beat when accelerating. The championship was on the line and the team instructed him to press on! Despite, being slower in straight line pace he was still the fourth fastest car around the track.

EOS 17

Matt Payne kept the lead. By the time they reached the point of 6 laps to go, he had a tidy 5+ second gap over Chaz Mostert in second.

Meanwhile, Broc Feeney’s engine woes saw him drop back in the field. His championship opportunity had been crushed.

In the end Matt Payne took the win 5.977 seconds ahead of Chaz Mostert in 2nd place. It was a further 8.841 seconds later that Will Brown crossed the finish line to take 3rd.

Feeney finished 20th and a lap down.

Chaz Mostert’s 2nd place put him ahead of Feeney in the Finals.

EOS 18

Chaz Mostert is the 2025 Supercars Champion.

Race 34 Results:

1st Matt Payne – Grove Racing

2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

3rd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

What a finish to the year!

Congratulations to Chaz Mostert.

And to all of you who have given me so much support through the year, Thank you and many good wishes for Christmas and New Year.

Til next season, keep revving! And don’t forget; Live It, Breathe It, Dream It, Drive It!

Supercars

Repco Bathurst 1000 2025

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of October 9 -12 was the Repco Bathurst 1000!

The Bathurst 1000 is the biggest and most well known motor car race on the Australian calendar. It is arguably bigger than the Australian Grand Prix and comparable to the Melbourne Cup horse race as a cultural event that stops the nation!

This year marked the 65th anniversary of The Bathurst 1000. And Boy, what a show it was! It will certainly go down in history as one of the best ever.

The pre-race sessions started 3 days beforehand. The preparations included 6 practice sessions, qualifying, top 10 shootout and a warmup session.

In a surprise to most punters, season leader Broc Feeney with co-driver Jamie Whincup didn’t get the pole position. The winner of last year’s Bathurst 1000 and the 2023 season champion Brodie Kostecki earned pole position for the 3rd year running. His co-driver was Todd Hazelwood.

Alongside them on the front row for the start was Cameron Waters and co-driver Mark Winterbottom.

Todd Hazelwood took the lead off the startline. He was followed by Mark Winterbottom, Jayden Ojeda, Fabian Coulthard and Cooper Murray.

Meanwhile, the last car on the grid driven by Brad Vaughn had stalled! He had to be towed off the track. What a way to start a 1000km race!

Todd Hazelwood kept the lead in the initial laps. Behind him there was plenty of chopping and changing in the top 5 drivers. David Russel, Garth Tander and Craig Lowndes were all in the mix. Pretty soon, so was Jamie Whincup.

Jack le Brocq was the first car to pit on lap 12.

On lap 26 Broc Feeney took the wheel from Jamie Whincup and beat leader Todd Hazelwood to the pit exit. The drivers in front of them were soon out of the way as they took their pit stops. Feeney was the new leader.

Broc Feeney soon carved a 4+ second lead over the rest of the pack. Although it was still early in the race, he was looking strong and confident.

Around lap 27 the rain started to fall.

Although the rain was light, the wet track was obviously a challenge. Aaron Cameron made heavy contact with the wall at turn 2. The impact was so hard that the car lifted off the ground into the air! Somehow, he was able to push on.

It was also probably the rain that caused Mark Winterbottom to run wide at the top of the mountain and losing 2nd place.

As they reached laps in the mid 30s, Car 25 of Chaz Mostert and co-driver Fabian Coulthard was not running on all 8 cylinders and sounding terrible. They pushed on.

Tim Slade’s car also suffered the same issue and chose to pit after lap 50. The Bendix Racing team felt they couldn’t reliably make the repairs and became the first car to exit the race early.

It was only 3 laps later that Tony Dalberto hit the wall on the exit of Forest Elbow and the safety car deployed once again. The Will Davison/Tony Dalberto car was soon declared the 2nd victim of The Great Race.

Mostert was still having his engine problem. After lap 57 he came to a stop on Conrod Straight. Again, the safety car was deployed. Mostert must have known the car was beyond repair. By the time the team declared they wouldn’t be able to continue, Mostert was at the bar having a cold one!

While the race was under the Safety Car conditions for Mostert, leader Broc Feeney took his next pit stop. This handed the lead to Brodie Kostecki followed by Cameron Waters. Feeney returned on track in 6th place.

The rain started getting heavier. Drivers were slip-sliding all over the place.

On lap 65 Nash Morris and Cameron McLeod made contact and in spectacular fashion went spinning around to end up facing the wrong way.

Brodie Kostecki had reported clutch issues earlier and then ran wide at The Chase. Cameron Waters snuck through and now had the lead.

Waters didn’t hold the spot for long. He joined Kostecki in the pits. The lead was taken up by Lee Holdsworth, followed by Jamie Whincup and Jayden Ojeda.

Cameron McLeod slid off track into a sand trap to bring out another safety car.

Next thing you know, Kai Allen travelling at 300kmph had a near miss with a kangaroo.

Kai Allen’s luck was used up. Soon after he was hit from behind and ended up in the wall at Forest Elbow. Another Safety Car was deployed.

Lee Holdsworth pitted from his leading position and left Jayden Ojeda in the number one spot. What a thrill for the young driver on his 2nd running at Bathurst.

By the middle of the race David Russell co-driving for James Golding had taken the lead from Jayden Ojeda in 2nd place. 13+ seconds further back was Scott Pye in 3rd.

They young Jayden Ojeda was like an enthusiastic puppy. In a matter of laps he closed the gap and then took over David Russsell.

Jayden Ojeda surprised everyone. He sped ahead and quickly created his own 5+ seconds buffer in the pouring rain. He was in the 1st spot but must have been in 7th heaven.

Brodie Kostecki was still in the top 10 drivers when he hit the rear of Kai Allen. Kostecki was in the pits for repairs. The delay caused him to drop so far back it would be impossible to recover.

There was plenty more action on the track throughout the race.

With 37 laps remaining Broc Feeney hit the wall at Forest Elbow requiring the safety car to be deployed. The time needed for repairs left him out of race contention. It must have been devastating for Feeney who is at the top of the championship ladder with 12 wins this season.

On lap 127 James Courtney (with co-driver Jack Perkins) had scored so much damage they became the 4th car to not complete the race.

Only two laps later Jaxson Evans with co-driver Jack Smith were the next casualties.

Ryan Wood (with co-driver Jayden Ojeda) still had the lead. With 24 laps remaining, Wood went off the track at The Chase. James Golding was right there to take the lead.

A couple of laps later Ryan Wood’s pace dramatically slowed. The car pitted. The repairs took time and the team knew there was no chance to regain their place. Regardless, they still chose to get back out there and to not quit. It is a shame they finished 19th.

On lap 143 of 161, after 6+ hours of driving, Ritchie Stanaway and Nash Morris were the 6th and final car to crash out of the race.

With 11 laps remaining, Golding had the lead. He was followed closely by Cooper Murray and Matt Payne. They were all within arms reach of each other.

The final 10 lap countdown was on, and the leading drivers were close together. The “win” for the biggest race of the year was up for grabs, and they all showed how much they wanted it.

With 9 laps left, the rain was still falling and track very wet.

Coming down The Dipper they push their cars to the max. Golding lost traction causing him to fishtail. He managed to hang on to the lead.

On Conrod Straight, Matt Payne was side by side in a challenge to Golding. At 300 kmph they approach the bends of The Chase.  As they exit The Chase, Payne slides onto the trackside grass and fishtails. He regains control and stays on the attack. Any mistakes could cost dearly, and the pressure was on.

As they reach the last turn of the lap, Cooper Murray attempted a pass on the outside of Payne. Payne ran wide and Murray cut behind him to the inside and comes out of the corner leading. It was a fantastic manoeuvre.

Payne worked through lap 8 to close the gap on the cars ahead.

With 7 laps remaining, Murray made an attack on Golding. They were side by side for what seemed a long time in a fierce battle for the lead. Murray finally managed to pass taking the number 1 spot!

Reynolds was in 4th place about 6 seconds behind, but desperately wants in on the action. He completed the circuit 1.5+ seconds faster than the three cars ahead and closed in on them.

With 5] laps to go, the top 3 cars are still bumper to bumper. The cars were pushed to the max in the rain and the driving was faultless.

At turn 2, Golding attacked on the inside of Murray and made contact. Golding went wide and Murray slid sideways. In a magically fluid motion Matt Payne cut across them to the inside of the corner to take the lead! James Golding remained in 2nd place. Cooper Murray dropped from 1st to 3rd.

Soon after, the officials issued James Golding a 5 second time penalty for causing the issue. Unable to serve the time penalty in the pits, the 5 seconds would be added to his final time at the end of the race. The 5 seconds penalty could result in losing the win and even being out of a podium finish.

Fog and mist from the low heavy cloud cover, blocked visibility across the top of Mount Panarama. The cars emerging from the mist and screaming down the mountain just looked incredible.

In the second last lap Matt Payne was aggressively driving to keep his lead. Golding is just as good and right on his tail.

The race had started nearly 7 hours ago and were just shy of 1000kms on one of the most challenging circuits anywhere. The leaders had been behind the wheel for more than 3 hours straight. In the car the temperature soars. How they could still be driving so competitively was a show of astounding stamina.

Hitting maximum speed down Conrod Straight, Golding cut to the inside of Matt Payne and they battled each other side by side through the turns. Payne comes out of the duel to keep his lead.  

Golding was desperate and attacked again and again.

They reach the final lap. Amazingly, Golding attacked again and came out of turn 1 with the lead. The crowd goes absolutely mental!

Side by side they race through the bends up the mountain. Payne looks like he is about to come out ahead, but Golding is on the inside of the next bend and defends the lead.

David Reynolds is on Matt Paynes tail. He tries going around the outside of Payne on the next bend but gets cut off. It was close.

They screamed down the mountain single file towards Conrod Straight. The tension was incredible. Three cars in the last seconds of a gruelling battle. Who would crack under the pressure? Could Golding get far enough ahead to negate the 5 second time penalty at the end?

The air was filled with the roar of the crowd who had completely lost control in the excitement.

Top speeds, neck in neck, maximum focus! Noone cracked through The Chase and the final turn.

The 3 cars were so close together. The crowd was in a frenzy.

James Golding crossed the finish line 1st. Matt Payne 2nd, David Reynolds 3rd and Cooper Murray 4th.

Once the 5 second time penalty was applied to Golding, the final results were announced.

Race 27 results:             

1st Matt Payne and Garth Tander – Grove / Penrite Racing
2nd David Reynolds and Lee Holdsworth – Team 18 / TRADIE Energy
3rd James Golding and David Russell – PremiAir Racing

The result gave Garth Tander his 6th Bathurst win and elevates him to upper level ‘living legend’.

The Payne / Tander team also ended up winning the Enduro Cup.

Broc Feeney still leads the championship but only by 56 points over Matt Payne.

The next event is the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 on October 24 – 26 2025.

Supercars

Century Batteries Ipswich Super440 2025

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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.

Supercars

NTI Townsville 500 2025

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of July 11 – 13 was round 7 of the 2025 Supercars Championship, the NTI Townsville 500.       

The Townsville street circuit was first opened in 2009 for the Townsville 400, a Supercars championship event. Lee Holdsworth and Garth Tander scored the first 2 pole positions back in 2009. Jamie Whincup and James Courtney shared the wins.

Jamie Whincup holds the record of most wins at Townsville with a total of 12. He also holds the most podiums record of 23. Shane Van Gisbergen is second with 8 wins.

This year was the 19th occasion that the Supercars have raced on the streets of Townsville and the venue didn’t let anyone down with perfect weather.

In the pre-race sessions:

  • Ryan Wood was fastest in Practice 1
  • Thomas Randle was fastest in Practice 2
  • Brodie Kostecki was fastest in Qualifying

In Race 20 Brodie Kostecki started on pole position with Cameron Waters alongside him.

At the start of the race Brodie Kostecki got the jump and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 35 laps. He was followed by Cameron Waters, Will Davison and Anton de Pasquale.

Jaxson Evans received damage to the front right corner of his car #12 from contact with David Reynolds. They both dropped down to 22nd and 24th place respectively.

A few laps into the race James Courtney made contact with Aaron Cameron dropping James Courtney back to 16th and Aaron Cameron to 23rd place.

The Red Bull Ampol Racing drivers Broc Feeney and Will Brown qualified 14th and 20th on the grid. They made easy work of moving up to 10th and 14th place.

Brodie Kostecki still had the lead but was shadowed by Cameron Waters in second place.

Will Davison was passed by Anton de Pasquale and then by Matt Payne dropping him back to 5th place.

The first car to pit was Ryan Wood on lap 10 from 23rd place and when he came back out he was still in 23rd place.

Both Broc Feeney and Will Brown were still making gains and in 9th and 11th place.

Brodie Kostecki maintained control and by the middle of the race had increased his lead to 3.171 seconds over Cameron Waters.

With 11 laps remaining, the leading 3 cars of Brodie Kostecki, Cameron Waters and Anton de Pasquale finally took their mandatory pit stops.

On return to the track, the 3 drivers still held the lead and it was a mad dash to the finish line. Cameron Waters and Anton de Pasquale couldn’t make any gains on the super-fast Brodie Kostecki and he flew across the finish line with 3.7 second lead.

Race 20 Results:

1st Brodie Kostecki – Shell V-Power Racing Team
2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
3rd Anton de Pasquale – Team 18

In Race 21 David Reynolds started on pole position with Matt Payne alongside him.

Matt Payne got the jump off the start line and led into turns 1 and 2 for the first of 70 laps.

Exiting turn 3 James Golding, Thomas Randle, Cameron Waters and Jaxson Evans all made contact and cars were spinning out of control everywhere. Cars behind them had to take evasive action. When the dust settled James Golding was stranded out in the middle of the track and the safety car had to be deployed. Thomas Randle, Ryan Wood and Cameron Waters had all dropped to the back of the field. Later, the officials declared it was a racing incident and no penalties were issued.

The restart was on lap 6 with Matt Payne still in control of the race, followed by David Reynolds and Jack le Brocq. Soon after, Broc Feeney passed Jack le Brocq to take 3rd place.

The first car to pit was Thomas Randle from 22nd place on lap 8. His car needed repair work done after being involved in the lap 1 pile up.

Brodie Kostecki was moving up and passed James Courtney for 5th place.

By lap 10 Thomas Randle was still in the pits and the crew declared that a shock absorber was broken. Once the repair was completed he rejoined the race but was way behind.

Will Davison had his rear guard smashed and pushed against the tyre by Will Brown making an aggressive pass. Davison had to pit early. After official investigation Will Brown was later issued a 5 second time penalty for his actions.

On lap 12 James Courtney’s engine failed and the safety car was deployed once again. Everyone pitted to take advantage of yellow flag. Broc Feeney did a really quick stop of 4 seconds which gave him track position.

The restart was on lap 18. Broc Feeney was in the lead followed by Matt Payne and David Reynolds.

By the middle of the race Broc Feeney had a 1.163 second lead over Matt Payne. Brodie Kostecki was 0.926 seconds adrift in third place. Chaz Mostert was 4th, up an amazing 13 places after starting 17th on the grid.

As the race continued Chaz Mostert still had more to offer. Towards the end of the race he worked his way up to 2nd place. Broc Feeney was driving faultlessly and increased his lead to 5.557 seconds. Matt Payne was still managing to hold 3rd place.

In the final laps the top 5 drivers were quite spread out giving them clean air and space to reach top speeds. However, Broc Feeney was flying and it seemed no one was able to catch him. In fact he gained even more lead over the others.

Broc Feeny crossed the finish line 6.429 seconds ahead of Chaz Mostert to earn his 21st career win. Matt Payne came in 3rd 1.963 seconds later. Will Brown led the rest of the pack across the line 13+ seconds later.

It was another spectacular finish for Feeney.

Race 21 Results:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
3rd Matt Payne – Grove Racing

In Race 22 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Matt Payne alongside him on the front row of the grid.

Broc Feeney got the jump off the start line leading for the first of 70 laps.

Anton de Pasquale went up to second place.

On lap 3 Will Brown clocked the fastest lap of the race so far, 115.088 seconds.

On the next lap Ryan Wood outdid him recording a 114.821 second lap time.

On lap 12 the front runners were still close together. Matt Payne found the space and regained his former 2nd position from Anton de Pasquale.

The first car to pit was Cameron Waters from 4th place on lap 15. Jack le Brocq pitted on the same lap.

Will Brown got up the inside of Anton de Pasquale for third place around lap 20. He was 1.6 seconds behind Matt Payne and Broc Feeney was 2.9 seconds ahead of him.

Jack Le Brocq then recorded the fastest lap of the race 114.621 seconds.

In the middle of the race Cameron Waters had a 1.5 second lead over Broc Feeney. However, Cameron Waters was still yet to pit so it wouldn’t be long before Feeney resumed the lead. Will Brown was 2.1 seconds back, followed by Anton de Pasquale.

The top 6 cars waited till the last part of the race to take their pit stops. Once back on the track, Broc Feeney was leading over Will Brown by 1.5 seconds. Cameron Waters was following in 3rd place.

Once again Chaz Mostert was moving up through the pack and now in 4th place. It didn’t take him too long to pass Cameron Waters in 3rd.

Meanwhile, the two Red Bull Ampol Racing drivers Broc Feeney and Will Brown were in the lead and breaking away from the pack. They created a huge lead and it seemed no one could keep up. In fact, Will Brown seemed to be having trouble keeping up with Broc Feeney.

Feeney crossed the finish line with a lead of 3.019 seconds over Will Brown. Nearly 10 seconds later Chaz Mostert who had kept ahead of Cam Waters, crossed the line to take 3rd place.

It was an incredible finish for the weekend.

Race 22 Results:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing

2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing

3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United

Broc Feeney has extended his championship lead to 220 points over Will Brown.

Red Bull Ampol Racing still have command of the Teams Championship by 830 points over Grove Racing.

The next event will be the Century Batteries Ipswich Super 440 on August 8 – 10 2025.

I’m looking forward to it already and hope you will join me.

Till then, Keep Revving!

Supercars

Betr Darwin Triple Crown 2025

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the 20 – 22 June was the Betr Darwin Triple Crown held at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Northern Territory.

Hidden Valley Raceway was first opened in 1986 and originally was not much more than a dust bowl for small scale events. It would be another 12 years before Supercars started racing at this venue.

Mark Skaife holds the record for the most Supercars race wins at the venue with a total of eight wins.

This event was round 6 of the 2025 Supercars Championship, starting on the Friday. Typical for Darwin, the weather was hot and sunny.

In the pre-race sessions:

  • Ryan Wood was fastest in Practice 1
  • Andre Heimgartner was fastest in Practice 2
  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Qualifying

In Race 17 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Cameron Waters alongside him.

Broc Feeney got the jump off the start line and led into turn 1 for the first of 42 laps.

At turn 1 Jaxson Evans went off the track and sustained such severe damage he couldn’t compete for the remainder of the weekend.

The safety car left the track on lap 7 and the race resumed. Almost immediately Macauley Jones got turned around by Anton de Pasquale. Jones dropped down to 17th. Later Pasquale was issued a 15 second time penalty to be served in the pits.

Further back Ryan Wood and Jack Le Brocq made contact. Ryan Wood’s car was damaged badly. He was in the middle of the pack without “fresh air”. The car quickly overheated and stopped. Le Brocq car lost it’s rear left wheel.

Seconds later Nick Percat made contact with David Reynolds at turn 5. Bryce Fullwood copped a hit while in 6th place. Richie Stanaway had smoke coming out of the left rear of car 62 while in 12th place.

The second safety car was deployed for the 2 cars (Wood and Le Brocq) to be cleared from the track, along with lots of debris left behind. Both cars would not be returning to finish the race.

The restart was on lap 12 and Broc Feeney still had control followed by Cameron Waters and Matt Payne. Brodie Kostecki used an un-sportsman-like bump and pass on Matt Payne. Officials requested he ‘redress’ the position to Payne. Later they also issued him a 5 second time penalty.

Broc Feeney then recorded the fastest lap of the race, 108.093 seconds.

Macauley Jones went off the track at turn 1, dropping him down to 21st place.

In the middle of the race two front runners Matt Payne and Cameron Hill pitted. There were still 12 cars yet to take their stops.

Broc Feeney only had 0.772 second lead.

With 15 laps to go Broc Feeney, Cameron Waters and Brodie Kostecki all pitted. Feeney changed the 2 rear tyres in 2.9 seconds. He returned on track in 6th place with the 5 cars in front yet to pit.

Once the cars took their pit stops Feeney assumed the lead once again.

The front runners were close together and Feeney couldn’t increase and secure his lead.

In the final lap he gave it his all and managed to create an astonishing 1.5+ second gap.

He crossed the finish line 1.727 seconds over Cameron Waters followed by Matt Payne.

It was exciting to the last second.

Race 17 Results:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
3rd Matt Payne – Grove Racing

In Race 18 Broc Feeney was on pole position again. Anton de Pasquale was next to him on the front line.

Broc Feeney led into turn 1 for the first of 42 laps followed by Anton de Pasquale. Kai Allen pushed Cameron Waters back a spot to take 3rd.  At turn 1 Richie Stanaway was spun around by Matt Payne and dropped to 24th place.

On lap 4 Will Davison in 12th place did the fastest lap of the race so far, 107.968 seconds.

The Hidden Valley Raceway is known for its high speeds. The driving on the day was fast and aggressive.

Before they reached lap 10, the fastest lap record was broken by Broc Feeney, 107.811 seconds. He was still in the lead by 1.214 seconds over Anton de Pasquale.

The first 2 cars to pit were Nick Percat on lap 10 and Richie Stanaway due to steering issues on lap 11.

The first of the front runners to pit was Brodie Kostecki on lap 16 for 4 tyres. He returned to the track in 20th place but there were still 18 cars yet to pit.

By the middle of the race Broc Feeney had increased his lead to 3.9 seconds over Anton de Pasquale. Not an easy task on such a fast track. Pasquale is also known for his fast driving.

The speed and aggression continued but Broc Feeney, Anton de Pasquale and Kai Allen kept hold of the top 3 places.

With 2 laps to go David Reynolds car couldn’t restart after being hit. The safety car was deployed to rescue Reynolds. The race unfortunately finished under safety car conditions (limited to 60km p/h and drivers have to stay in formation).

So at 60km p/h Broc Feeney took his second win for the weekend.

It was tense in those last laps in the hope the safety car would clear off before the end of the race. It would have made for a crazy last dash to the finish line.

Race 18 Results:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Anton de Pasquale – Team 18
3rd Kai Allen – Grove Racing

In Race 19 Broc Feeney started on pole position for the 3rd time out of 3 races this weekend. Alongside him was Cameron Hill.

The high speed track took its toll on the drivers and the opening stages of this race were very messy.

Broc Feeney took the lead from the start line and led through turn 1 for the first of 70 laps.

Chaz Mostert had engine issues and started the race from the pit lane because he was worried the car wasn’t going to start on the grid.

At turn 1 of lap 1 Macauley Jones ran very wide and went to the back of the pack. Andre Heimgartner dropped to 10th place.

Soon after Ryan Wood passed Anton de Pasquale for 3rd place.

Broc Feeney had a slender lead of just 0.338 seconds over Jack le Brocq in 2nd place, followed by Ryan Wood.

Cameron Hill had dropped to 7th and was struggling to hold back Will Brown who was up 3 spots in 8th place.

David Reynolds tried avoiding contact with Thomas Randle but couldn’t avoid it, then ran wide and went into the dirt.

A few laps into the race Rylan Gray ran extremely wide at turn 1. He came back on track down in 23rd place behind Chaz Mostert.

Thomas Randle ran wide and dropped spots to Nick Percat, Cooper Murray and Cameron Waters. He was now back in 19th place.

On lap 11 Broc Feeney had a 0.729 second lead over Jack le Brocq.

The pit stop sequence was yet to begin and while Feeney was still out front recorded the fastest lap of the race, 108.030 seconds on lap 12.

The first car to pit in this race was Matt Payne on lap 16. James Courtney followed him in.

Cameron Hill came in to the pits from 4th place returning on track in 22nd place.

Broc Feeney had used the last 5 laps to create a 3.5 second lead over Jack le Brocq.

On lap 26 Will Davison spun James Courtney around, dropping them both to 20th and 22nd place. Will Davison was soon issued a 15 second time penalty for the driving infringement.

In the middle of the race Kai Allen and Chaz Mostert were yet to pit but once they did, Broc Feeney took back the lead.

With 9 laps remaining Broc Feeney was in his stride. He had Matt Payne and Kai Allen behind him with a 42 second lead but was still to take his second mandatory pit stop.

Cameron Waters took a corner wide and spun around losing the left rear wheel. The wheel loss was due to a missed task in his final pit stop. The mistake dropped him down to 21st place.

Feeney took his final stop. He was so far ahead he returned to the track still in the lead with a decent buffer.

Meanwhile, rookie Kai Allen managed to pass Matt Payne for 2nd place.

Noone could catch Broc Feeney. He crossed the finish line leading 7.9 seconds ahead of Kai Allen followed by Matt Payne.

Congratulations to Broc Feeney for 3 wins of 3 races and receiving the Betr Darwin Triple Crown Trophy for 2025.

Race 19 Results:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Kai Allen – Grove Racing
3rd Matt Payne – Grove Racing

Broc Feeney’s 3 of 3 wins at the event extended his series lead out to 183 points over Red Bull teammate, Will Brown.

Red Bull Ampol Racing are also at the top of the team’s ladder and lead by 632 points.

The next event is the NTI Townsville 500 on July 11 – 13.

Till then, Keep Revving!

Supercars

Bosch Power Tools Perth Super440 2025

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of June 6 – 8 was the Bosch Power Tools Perth Super 440, round 5 of the 2025 Supercars championship.

It was held at Barbagallo Raceway which celebrated its 100th V8 Supercars race at this event.

Barbagallo Raceway was opened on the 2nd March 1969. The Supercars championship formally known as the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) first raced at the venue in 1973. Since 1978 the circuit has hosted a Supercars round every year except 2010.

The Supercars record of the most race wins at Barbagallo Raceway is held by Craig Lowndes with a total of 16 victories. He also finished on the podium 7 out of the remaining 9 races he competed in at the venue.

This year, Ex-Supercars driver Mark Winterbottom made his TV debut working with Fox Sports.  

The weekend kicked off with some of the pre-race sessions on the Friday.

  • Jaxson Evans was fastest in Practice 1
  • Matt Payne was fastest in Practice 2
  • Chaz Mostert was fastest in Qualifying

In Race 14 Chaz Mostert started on pole position with his teammate alongside him, 21 year old New Zealander Ryan Wood.

Chaz Mostert led into turn 1 for the first of 50 laps followed by Ryan Wood. Broc Feeney was third after passing Brodie Kostecki off the start line.

Aaron Cameron was off the track after making contact with James Courney at turn 5.

On lap 11 Ryan Wood took the lead off Chaz Mostert. Broc Feeney was still holding third place.

James Courtney made contact with Aaron Love. Aaron Love got a puncture. After pitting for repair, he returned to the back of the pack in 25th place.

Ryan Wood did the fastest lap in 55.77 seconds but only had a 0.263 second lead over Chaz Mostert. Broc Feeney was also right behind.

Will Brown put a move on Matt Payne for 5th place. He was now only 1.494 seconds behind Brodie Kostecki in 4th place.

Broc Feeney was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 22. He did 2 tyres in a quick 4 second pit stop. He came back out in 18th place.

In the middle of the race Chaz Mostert assumed the lead while the top 9 drivers were yet to take to their pitstops. Once those drivers pitted, Ryan Wood took the race lead back from Mostert.

Towards the end of the race, Will Brown had pushed Chaz Mostert out of 2nd place and was putting pressure on Ryan Wood for the number 1 spot.

Ryan Wood is only in his second year as a driver in the big game. To his credit he held his own and didn’t choke when under attack from far more experienced drivers.

He kept the lead and crossed the finish line a mere 0.612 seconds ahead of Will Brown. It was another 3.3 seconds back to Chaz Mostert in 3rd place.

Congratulations to Ryan Wood on his first Supercars win. Spectacular!

Results for Race 14:

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

In Race 15 Ryan Wood had earned himself the pole position. Alongside him was Cameron Waters.

At the start of the race Cameron Waters got the jump and led into turn 1 for the first of 50 laps, followed by Matt Payne and Ryan Wood in third place.

Andre Heimgartner went to the back of the pack after running wide at turn 1.

Will Brown moved up into 7th place after passing Kai Allen.

Aaron Cameron made contact with Andre Heimgartner which bent the steering on Heimgartner’s car. After repairs he returned to the race last, down in 25th place.

Chaz Mostert also passed Kai Allen dropping him back another spot to 9th place.

On lap 8 Will Brown did the fastest lap of 55.174 seconds.

Kai Allen and Aaron Love received bad sportsmanship flags for exceeding track limits on turn 7 of lap 16.

Ryan Wood repeated his performance of the previous race and took the lead off Cameron Waters on lap 20. It was fast becoming a great weekend for the newbie, Wood.

Wood’s lead didn’t last long. On lap 22 he ran massively wide due to a suspension failure putting Cameron Waters back in the lead. Waters was followed by Matt Payne, Broc Feeney and Will Brown.

Will Brown pitted on lap 24 for 4 tyres in a 7 second stop. Broc Feeney pitted on the next lap, also for 4 tyres in a 7.52 second stop. He came back out on the track in 17th position just in front of Will Brown.

There were 16 cars yet to take pit stops. Once they did the two Red Bull drivers, Broc Feeney and Will Brown took control of the race.

From that point on the challenge was between the two drivers. The leaders were tightly packed and Feeney was not able to break away.

Towards the end of the race Broc Feeney had a slender lead of just 0.527 seconds over Will Brown.

Cameron Waters in 4th position had dropped back and was having issues closing the gap.

Cooper Murray had the same issue as Ryan Wood earlier in the race, a suspension failure and was heading to the garage.

In the final laps Feeney managed to marginally creep ahead, but the 3 front drivers were still tightly packed. They had broken away from the main group behind reducing the pressure but it still felt very intense.  

True to his form, Broc Feeney held up and took the win with 1.576 seconds over his teammate Will Brown. Chaz Mostert was a further 0.415 seconds behind in 3rd place.

Cameron Waters crossed the finish line 5.67 seconds later in 4th place.

For Broc Feeney it was his 4th win of the 2025 Supercars season.

Results for Race 15:

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

In Race 16 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Cameron Waters alongside him.

Broc Feeney got jump off the start line and led into turn 1 for the first of 83 laps.

Cameron Hill’s car wouldn’t start under its own power so had to be towed to the pitlane and prove it could start on its own. It was unfortunate, he was now a long way behind the others.

David Reynolds lost 3 spots in one manoeuvre which dropped him back to 10th place.

James Courtney was looking to pass David Reynolds, but he couldn’t make the move stick.

Thomas Randle ran wide at turn 6 which allowed David Reynolds to pass and regain 1 lost spot.

Will Brown was 2.3 seconds away from the lead in 4th place but then he dropped 2 spots.

James Golding made contact with David Reynolds at turn 6, then Reynolds made contact with Ryan Wood exiting turn 7.

When they reached double digits laps, the first car to pit in the race was Nick Percat from 24th place.

Broc Feeney was 1.1 seconds ahead of Cameron Waters, with Matt Payne following 0.321 seconds behind.

Chaz Mostert was the first of the top 10 drivers to take his pit stop and returned to the track in 22nd place.

Matt Payne pitted on lap 20 to get clear track and the benefit of the undercut on the front runners. There were 12 cars yet to make their first of two mandatory pit-stops.

Jack le Brocq’s left hand side door came open on its own. He automatically received a mechanical black flag. i.e. official instruction to get it resolved immediately.

On lap 33 Will Brown made contact with James Golding at turn 7. It slowed them momentarily allowing Chaz Mostert to close the gap from behind, but he chose not to pass during that moment of mayhem.

In the middle of the race Kai Allen was the only driver yet to complete his first of 2 stops. Once he pitted Broc Feeney would assume the race lead followed by Ryan Wood, Cameron Waters and then Will Brown.

With 19 laps to go Cooper Murray had stopped on the track due to an electrical problem in car 99 and the first safety car of the weekend was deployed.

Matt Payne and James Courtney were the final 2 cars to execute their second stops.

On lap 74 of 83 Ryan Wood and James Golding made contact and both cars went off track. Ryan Wood managed to get back to the pits for repairs but it couldn’t get done in time. He unfortunately received an NC (Not Complete with no points for the race).

With 7 laps remaining Matt Payne closed in on the race leader Broc Feeney. He was only 0.411 seconds behind and James Courtney was third 2.601 seconds a drift.

Once again Broc Feeney held his number 1 spot and crossed the finish line 0.567 seconds ahead of Matt Payne. It was another 5.2 seconds back to James Courtney in third place.

It was such a tight and epic finish.

Results for Race 16:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Matt Payne – Grove Racing
3rd James Courtney – Snowy River Caravans.

With 2 wins for the weekend Broc Feeney has extended his championship lead out to 72 points over Will Brown.

The Betr Darwin Triple Crown Triple Crown is the next event on June 20 – 22 2025.

Supercars

Valo Adelaide 500 2024

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Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

On the weekend of the 14 – 17 November 2024 was Valo Adelaide 500, Round 12 of the 2024 Supercars Championship. This was the last round for the year held on the Adelaide Street circuit in South Australia.

The Adelaide Street Circuit was purpose built to host the Australian Grand Prix when Adelaide won the rights in 1985. The 3.80 km track combined sections constructed in Victoria Park as well as utilising city streets.

Supercars started racing at the Adelaide circuit in 1999. The event was known as The Sensational Adelaide 500 and run over 2 legs. At that very first event both races were won by legend Craig Lowndes. He won the first race from the second row of the grid and on the Sunday, he won after starting at the back of the pack. He unbelievably went from last to first.

This year marks the 25 year anniversary for Supercars at the venue.

This year it was the last event for the year, so is a milestone for two people leaving the sport as full-time drivers. Tim Slade is leaving after a 15 years career and Mark ‘Frosty’ Winterbottom ends his illustrious career after 21 years. We thank you and wish you all the very best for the future.

The event kicked off on a Thursday with warm weather. Great for the visitors but making it a hot 45 degrees plus inside the race cars.

The pre-race sessions results were:

  • James Courtney was fastest in Practice 1
  • David Reynolds was fastest in Practice 2
  • Will Brown was fastest in Qualifying. The session was cut short due to a red flag with 9 minutes 41 seconds remaining, caused by a big shunt between Richie Stanaway Cameron Hill and David Reynolds.
  • Broc Feeney was fastest in Practice 3
  • Cameron Waters was fastest in the top 10 Shootout

In Race 23 Cameron Waters started on pole position, alongside him was Thomas Randle.

Dale Wood started 24th on the grid as substitute for Richie Stanaway who was receiving medical attention after his crash in qualifying.

Cooper Murray was sitting in for “Dad to Be” Jack le Brocq who was heading home to be with his wife for the birth of their first child.

Chaz Mostert was having clutch problems pre-race and had to start from the pit lane.

The two Red Bull Ampol Racing driver’s came into this event as the only 2 in contention for the season title. So, although it was a tense situation it would have been relatively a friendly competition between the two, Will Brown and Broc Feeney.

At the start of the 78 lap race Thomas Randle got the jump and took the lead. Cameron Waters tucked into second place and Matt Payne was right behind them in third. The championship contenders Will Brown and Broc Feeney were battling for 4th and 5th place.

Both Broc Feeney and Will Brown soon passed Matt Payne for 3rd and 4th position.

Last year’s reigning champ, Brodie Kostecki had moved up 4 places into 7th.

Chaz Mostert who was 3rd on the season ladder wanted to keep his place on the scoreboard. He passed David Rynolds to take the 18th spot.

The first car to pit in this race was Tim Slade from 21st position on lap 17.

Soon after Slade returned to the track he was hit by David Reynolds. Slade was able to continue but David Reynolds was slowing and had to head into the garage to resolve the problems with car 20.

Broc Feeney in 3rd place was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 27. The stop was 5.5 seconds and he re-joined in 7th position. The 6 cars ahead were yet to take their pit stops. Once they did Feeney took the lead of the race.

Mark Winterbottom was spun around and pushed out of 5th place by Cooper Murray.

By the middle of the race Broc Feeney had a comfortable lead over Thomas Randle and Cameron Waters. Will Brown was in 4th place.

Broc Feeney kept edging ahead of the pack. It seemed he was untouchable.

With 8 laps to go Broc Feeney had created an 8.7 second lead on the rest of the pack. Meanwhile, his teammate Will Brown had passed Thomas Randle and Cameron Waters to take 2nd place. For Will Brown to finish within the top 5 places would be good enough for him to wrap up the 2024 Supercars Championship.

Will Brown wanted the win but just couldn’t close the gap on Feeney.

Broc Feeney crossed the finish line an amazing 12.117 seconds clear of Will Brown to take his 12th career win, and his 6th win of the 2024 season. Cameron Waters followed in 3rd place.

With this result Will Brown was named ‘2024 Champion Elect’. What a great moment for the Red Bull Ampol Racing team. Top two drivers and top team for the year!

Race 23 Results:

1st Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
3rd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing

In Race 24 Broc Feeney started on pole position with Chaz Mostert alongside him.

As they took off Chaz Mostert and Broc Feeney were neck in neck until they got to turn 4 when Mostert was able to finally take the lead. Meanwhile Will Brown was right behind.

On lap 4 Matt Payne went into a tyre wall at turn 11. Payne couldn’t get the car into reverse and the front end was buried under the mountain of tyres. The safety car was deployed to rescue him & after a short stint in the garage returned to the race.

The restart was on lap 8 and Chaz Mostert still had control of the race. Broc Feeney in 2nd was looking very racy after the restart and put in several challenges for the lead but Mostert defended well.

At turn 7 Will Brown was hit and spun around by Brodie Kostecki trying to make a pass for 3rd place. The new Champion Elect, Will Brown dropped from 3rd all the way down to 22nd. Although already named champ aft the previous race, being at the back of the pack was surely not how he wanted to finish the season.

Thomas Randle took advantage of the mayhem, and he was now the driver in 3rd place.

Later in the race after the officials reviewed the incident, Brodie Kostecki was issued a 15 second time penalty.

Ryan Wood in 5th place got turned around by Anton de Pasquale at turn 9. Cameron Waters trying to avoid the incident hit Pasquale and went up onto 2 wheels which looked extremely scary.

The first car to pit was James Golding on lap 20 from 20th place.

By the middle of the race Chaz Mostert was out front with a 3 + second lead over Broc Feeney. There was then a 9.927 seconds gap back to Will Davison in third place.

On lap 50 the 3 leaders pitted for the final time. On exit there was contact between Chaz Mostert and Broc Feeney. Officials deemed it Feeney’s error and issued him with 15 second time penalty.

With 13 laps to go the lead pack had changed order. Anton de Pasquale was in the number 1 spot, followed by Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert and Will Brown.

Take note that Brown was in 4th place after working his way back to the front after being pushed to the rear of the pack early on in the race. I guess that shows why he earned the championship crown.

Anton de Pasquale’s car was showing the strain of the gruelling 78 lap race. The spoiler on his car was hanging loose and scraping the track. He had to relinquish the lead and head to the pits for repairs before the officials gave him a mechanical black flag.

The lead had changed once again; Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert then Will Brown. Although Feeney was in the lead he still had a 15 second time penalty that would be added post race. He knew he wouldn’t be standing on the podium.

Chaz Mostert in 2nd place looked like he would inherit the win from Feeney.  With 4 laps to go Mostert exceeded track limits and was issued a drive through penalty.

Once Mostert left the track to serve the penalty, Will Brown moved into 2nd place on the track.

Brown knew of the impending 15 second penalty hanging over Feeney, so he took no risks to challenge him. He would win by default.

When Mostert returned to the track after serving the drive through penalty he was miraculously in 3rd place.

Broc Feeney crossed the line first, followed by teammate Will Brown, Chaz Mostert and then Thomas Randle.

Feeney’s time penalty dropped him down to 7th place in the final results. Will Brown claimed the win, Chaz Mostert was declared 2nd and Thomas Randle 3rd.

It was bad luck for Feeney but what a great finish to Will Brown as the season champ.

Race 24 Results:

1st Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
3rd Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing

Well, that’s it for the 2024 Supercars season.

The Sydney 500 will be the first event to kick off the new season in Feb 2025. I can’t wait and hope you will join me in the new year.

In the meantime, I wish you all a very safe and happy festive season and new year.

Supercars

Repco Bathurst 1000 2024

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Hi to all you Supercar fans around the world!

The weekend of October 10th–13th hosted the Repco Bathurst 1000, which was Round 10 of the 2024 Supercars Championship and the 64th running of the legendary Bathurst endurance race.

The Bathurst race circuit, known as Mount Panorama, first opened on March 17, 1938. The race itself originated in 1960 as the Armstrong 500, a 500 mile race held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. In 1963, the event moved to Bathurst, where it retained the 500 mile distance until 1973 when it went metric and was extended to a 1000 kilometre race.

1000 is the most iconic race of the year in Australia and is internationally recognised as a tough and gruelling race on an extremely difficult track.

Over the years, the Bathurst 1000 has been the stage for many remarkable moments in motorsport history. Some of the most notable include:

  • Peter Brock (Brocky) was also nicknamed “King of the Mountain”. Between 1972 and 1987 (a period of 15 years) he won the Bathurst 1000 nine times. His win in 1979 was by a phenomenal 6 laps ahead of other competitors. On the final lap anyone would think he would play it safe. Instead, he broke the fastest recorded time in history.
    Peter Brock – Wins 1979 Bathurst 100 by 6 laps. Who would have thought being quick would make you popular with the girls. Sign of the times.
    • 2003: Greg Murphy astounded everyone in the top 10 shootout before the race. He clocked such a phenomenal lap time it has gone down in history as the “Lap of the Gods”.
    Lap of the Gods 2003. You don’t have to be a motor sports fan to enjoy this.
    • 2005: Marcos Ambrose was the season champion for 2003 and 2004. He was well on his way to making it three in a row. On lap 145, he and Greg Murphy were in the top 10 at the front of the pack. They made contact at The Cutting and Ambrose was taken out of the race. He earned no points for the championship. It not only ruined his chances of a Bathurst win (after 145 of 161 laps) but took him of the season running.
    • 2006: Paul Radisich crashed coming out of The Chase. His car was demolished, and he suffered injuries so bad he was unable to compete for the rest of the season.
    • 2008: Paul Radisich as co-driver to Rick Kelly locked up the front wheels at maximum speed smashing into a barrier of the upcoming turn. The impact was so intense, just watching it will give you whiplash. The car was out of the race.
    • 2010: On the first lap, competition was so fierce Fabian Coulthard left the track at max speed on Conrod Straight. He hit the sand trap, slid sideways and the car went into a 6 barrel roll. Needless to say, he missed the next 160 laps.

    Honestly, there are dozens more examples of moments in the Bathurst 1000 that have gone down in history.

    This year’s Bathurst 1000 was also a special milestone for several drivers. Craig Lowndes marked his 31st appearance, Warren Luff his 24th, Will Davison his 21st, James Courtney and Jack Perkins both celebrated their 19th Bathurst 1000.

    The hype around “The Big Race” starts well before the actual Sunday of the race itself. They even have a dedicated “Bathurst channel” starting a week in advance. The preliminary sessions started on the Thursday and went until the race on Sunday.

    Pre-Race Session fastest times:

    • Practice 1: Matt Payne.
    • Practice 2: Jamie Whincup in the co-driver session.
    • Practice 3: Broc Feeney.
    • Practice 4: Brodie Kostecki.
    • Qualifying: Matt Payne.
    • Practice 5: Cooper Murray in the co-driver session.
    • Practice 6: Broc Feeney.
    • Top Ten Shootout: Brodie Kostecki earning him Pole Position on the grid.
    • Warmup: Will Brown and co-driver Scott Pye shared the fastest lap.

    Race 20

    The 2023 champion Brodie Kostecki positioned himself in the number 1 grid spot. After last year’s brilliant performance, he has had a woeful time this season, so it was great to see him up front and ready to take on “The Big Race”.

    Cameron Waters pulled up alongside him on the front row. Just behind them was Broc Feeney in Position 3 (P3) and Richie Stanaway in P4.

    The moment finally came, and they were off for the gruelling 161 laps. Kostecki was out front from the moment they waved the green flag but it was Broc Feeney who had a blistering start and was close behind.

    Richie Stanaway passed Feeney and by the time they reached “The Chase” was putting in a challenge to Kostecki for the lead.

    Even with 160 laps and hours to go, all drivers were putting in 100%.

    By Lap 2, the young Broc Feeney in his 3rd Bathurst 1000 attempt as a main driver had passed Stanaway to take second place, 1.2 seconds behind leader Kostecki.

    The front group were beginning to spread out. Stanaway was just 1.1 seconds behind in third, followed by Cameron Waters 2.7 seconds adrift, and Will Brown 3.4 seconds back.

    A few laps later at the rear of the group Matt Chada went off track with an impressive half-spin and ended up in the sand trap. He was able to recover without a safety car intervening.

    Will Davison was the first car to pit on Lap 17 and handed over to co-driver Kai Allen for his first stint at Bathurst. Kai Allen along with Cooper Murray will be moving up from the Super-2s category to become full time V8-Supercars drivers in 2025. It must have been a moment  for both of them to achieve this goal.

    As Cameron Waters started lap 23 he made a mistake at Turn 1, going straight ahead off the track and losing the number 3 spot to Will Brown. He rejoined the race in 10th place.

    Kostecki continued to show fine form like that of his 2023 championship win. On lap 25 he did the fastest lap of the race recorded so far.

    A few laps later Chaz Mostert attempted an inside pass on Brad Vaughn at Forest Elbow (turn 18). They made contact causing significant damage to the front end of Vaughn’s car. His spoiler was left abandoned on the track with other car debris. I was surprised he was able to continue without pitting. Even so, there had been no safety car deployment so far.

    Brodie Kostecki and Broc Feeney both pitted on lap 28 from their 1st and 2nd spots. Will Brown briefly minded the lead as the pit stops cycled through.

    While Feeney handed over the wheel to co-driver Jamie Whincup, a fuel hose issue in the Red Bull Ampol Racing pit stall cost them valuable time (around 3 seconds).

    Todd Hazelwood took the wheel from Kostecki, emerging from the pits with a 6.6 second lead over Jamie Whincup.

    Meanwhile, Lee Holdsworth and Dale Wood were engaged in a fierce battle for 4th and 5th. Holdsworth’s poor positioning coming up to a turn and his own driving error had him go straight ahead and leave the track. Surprisingly it worked to his advantage as he cut the corners and re-entered the track in 3rd place. He wasn’t penalised for his short cut but normally it’s a “no no”.

    Garth Tander experienced a massive lockup at the final corner of the lap and dropped back to 14th place.

    Todd Hazelwood continued to lead but Jamie Whincup had closed the gap to 3.8 seconds. Due to pit stop cycling Scott Pye in 3rd was a further 11.028 seconds behind.

    There was also plenty of action in the main pack. Cooper Murray was having an impressive drive climbing six places into 12th. Declan Fraser moved up to 5th after passing Lee Holdsworth.

    Unfortunately, a Brad Jones Racing crewman had a fumble with the garage fuel pump hose connection whilst filling car 8 for driver Declan Fraser.  They were only able to take on 20 litres of fuel and were forced into an unscheduled pitstop shortly after. 20litres instead roughly 120 litres put them at a major disadvantage while in a competitive position.

    By the middle stages of the race Brodie Kostecki was on fire, extending his lead to a commanding 14.175 seconds over Jamie Whincup.

    When it came time for Jamie Whincup to give back the driving seat to Broc Feeney, Feeeny looked like he might have enough pace to challenge for the lead, but the gap was too big to close.

    Much loved legend Craig Lowndes was in 5th, having gained an astonishing 13 positions.

    On lap 132 of 161Matt Payne had a gear downshift issue as he zig zagged up “The Mountain” through The Cutting. At such high speed he was unable to make the upcoming turn and went straight ahead into the concrete barrier wall.

    After being on the track for more than 5 hours and coming close to the end of the race, it must have been a huge disappointment to Matt Payne and co-driver Garth Tander to see their car demolished and out of the race.

    The race went to “Yellow” and the first safety car of the day was deployed while the car wreck was removed.

    I must say it is so unusual for them to get this far into the race without a safety car deployment. It might have had to do with the good weather instead of the usual wet weather and sudden storms the Bathurst area can be prone to.

    While under “Yellow” drivers have to stay in formation behind the safety car, limited to 80Kmph. All the gaps are closed up. Brodie Kostecki’s 10 + second lead up the front was lost. It was going to make the last laps extremely exciting.

    The Big Race got back underway. Broc Feeney was now in a much better position to challenge the lead. Brodie Kostecki who had the number 1 spot almost the entire race was having none of that and defended with exceptional driving. There was simply no room at any stage for Feeney to get past him.

    They were both driving like demons. The rest of the pack were falling further behind. Pretty soon the two leaders had created 10 + second gap over them.

    In the final laps Brodie Kostecki held strong. Broc Feeney was no slouch either and kept on his tail, but still had no opportunity to pass. Not a single mistake was made by either driver as they charged to the end.

    The crowd went absolutely insane, cheering Kostecki on as he crossed the finish line 1.3 seconds ahead of Broc Feeney. It is only the 4th time in the history of the Bathurst 1000 that the pole sitter finished first.

    Will Brown was leading the rest of the pack, finishing 13.640 seconds behind in third.

    What a spectacular finish to the biggest race of the year.

    Race 20 Final Results:

    1st Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood – Erebus Motorsport

    2nd Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    3rd Will Brown and Scott Pye – Red Bull Ampol Racing

    With their 2nd and 3rd place finishes, Red Bull Ampol Racing secured the 2024 Teams Championship even with 2 events remaining. Broc Feeney moved back to 2nd place in the Drivers Championship, 204 points behind teammate Will Brown who remains the series leader. Chaz Mostert is in 3rd place, 222 points off the lead.

    With just two events remaining in the 2024 Supercars Championship – the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 on October 25–27 and the final round on November 14–17

     The Valo Adelaide 500, the battle for the title is heating up. I hope you can join me for the final two rounds of an incredible season!

    Bathurst 12 hour

    Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 hour 2022

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    Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!

    On the weekend of the 13th to the 15th of May 2022 was the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.

    The Bathurst 12 hour is a time race independent of laps.

    It is also a GT not a Supercars race, so the results don’t affect the Supercars series.

    There were plenty of drivers from the Supercars paddock that competed, like; Lee Holdsworth, Broc Feeney, David Reynolds, Cameron Waters, Shane Van Gisbergen, Craig Lowndes, Alex Davison, Chaz Mostert, Will Brown and Jack Perkins.

    Some of the more well-known internationals that competed included; Kenny Habul, Jules Gounon, Kelvin van der Linde, Marcus Winklehock and Prince Jefri Ibrahim.

    I was keeping my eye on Chaz Mostert, Broc Feeney, Shane Van Gisbergen, Lee Holdsworth, Dean Fiore, Craig Lowndes, Cameron Waters and Grant Denyer.

    Normally this event is run in February but due to Covid messing with things, it was re-scheduled for May.

    Also, it usually starts between 6am and 6:15am (during daylight savings). Marketing determined it best to have the race finish during TV peak-time for better ratings. This meant an earlier start of 5:15am, so the first 90 minutes of the race were in the early morning dark.

    The first 90 minutes were in the dark before sunrise.

    Before the race started the fog had descended on Mount Panorama.

    Chaz Mostert earned himself pole position. He was teamed with Liam Talbot and Fraser Ross in car 65, an Audi from Melbourne Performance Centre. I wasn’t surprised that Chaz Mostert started behind the wheel because of his experience at this venue in the Supercars Series.

    South African, Kelvin van der Linde was alongside pole.

    Broc Feeney, the Red Bull Ampol Racing rookie started the 888 Mercedes from 5th position. In his Bathurst 12 Hour debut this was a big assignment, but no doubt because the team have faith in him.

    There were only 20 cars on the grid this year compared to the normal 30 or 40 cars. The reduction was of limited international competitors due to COVID.

    A rolling start behind the safety car is the norm for the Bathurst 12 Hour, I guess to reduce the risks of a standing start in the dark. It was also a good choice considering this year’s foggy conditions.

    When the safety car peeled off, the start of the race was absolutely spectacular. The drivers in the top 10 held their positions with Mostert and Linde being the pace setters.

    The safety car came out more than once due to the foggy conditions. The visibility was so poor that even the drivers were making comments. Typical of Bathurst, the fog turned to rain, then fogged up again and then rained again.

    Before the sun came up, Zane Morse in car 52 tagged the wall at the top of the hill forcing a safety car. The Wheels/FX Racing PNG Marc II V8 was the first car to leave the track.

    Two hours into the race Dale Wood in car 50 was the next victim of The Mountain.

    About halfway through car 95 was pulled from the race with engine problems.

    Car 45 hit the wall exiting The Dipper and required immediate repairs. When it rejoined the race they suffered another hit taking it out of the race for good.

    I am not superstitious but I note that the above cars mentioned all have the number 5 in their car numbers; 52, 50, 95 and 45. Coincidence?

    Of all the things that happened to the cars in such a gruelling race, it was the pole sitter car 65 that had my eyes wide open in disbelief. The car had stopped on Mountain Straight. To rectify the issues, you wont believe this….. They literally pressed Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart and then … they were off and away! LOL!

    The weather played havoc through the day. There were multiple occasions that the safety cars were deployed, and other cars were pulled from the track to sit out the rest of the race.

    It was the team of Jules Gounon, Martin Konrad, Kenny Habul and Luca Stolz who crossed the line first with an 8.7 second lead. They were in car 75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes AMG. (note another 5 in the car number).

    The Craft Bamboo Mercedes, car 91 was the next across the line. Daniel Juncedella, Kevin Tse and Maro Engel put in an incredible challenge to the leader in the last 2 hours of the race. It really was an intense extended battle to the finish line.

    The third car to come across the line was also a Mercedes AMG, giving Merc a 1,2 & 3 on the podium. This was the 888 car from my favoured team Triple Eight Race Engineering, driven by Supercars defending champ Shane Van Gisbergen, Broc Feeney and Prince Jefri Ibrahim.

    It was an incredible race and im already looking forward to its return next year. Good thing is it is expected to run in its usual schedule of February, so I don’t have to wait a full year!!!!