Broc Feeney did everything he needed to with victory at the Adelaide 500, but crucial overtakes in the final stint have helped Will Brown clinch the 2024 Supercars Championship.
Feeney recorded a runaway sixth win of the season and first since Darwin in June, but an 18th podium in 23 starts for Brown ensured the title was too far out of reach for Saturday’s winner.
The Toowoomba-born driver passed Tickford Racing teammates Cam Waters and Thomas Randle in the final stint to shore up his maiden title, and Triple Eight’s third in four seasons.
Brown became the first driver since the driver he replaced, Shane van Gisbergen, in 2016 to win the championship in his first year with a new team. He also became the first since Dick Johnson in 1984 to record at least one podium at every event of the season.
The title was sealed with a pass on Randle on lap 57, with Brown catching and passing Waters to deliver yet another championship to Triple Eight Race Engineering.
Matt Payne caught Waters in the closing laps and had a crack on the last lap at Turn 7, but Waters did enough to hang on.
“I think I was more glad that it finished because it was so hot out there,” Brown beamed.
“Awesome day, Broc did a great job. I made it hard for myself in the pits having the steering wheel locked, the boys couldn’t get the pit stop done there, but awesome to drive back, and to win the championship in front of all these people.
“For everyone coming out today, thank you, bunch of legends, I wish I could go out and get on the beers tonight, but I can’t I’ve got to behave, that’s tomorrow night.”
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“I’m just stoked, to finally wrap it up today is awesome, takes a bit of pressure off tomorrow so we’ll go out there and have some fun.”
Randle got the jump and rounded up pole-sitter Waters through the Senna Chicane, with Payne dropping Feeney to fourth. Brown, meanwhile, fought Aaron Love for fifth for the balance of the first lap, before clearing the rookie.
Randle began to stretch his legs and opened up a two-second lead on Waters by lap 10, with Feeney and Brown muscling past Payne at Turn 4 on lap 7. Behind them, Erebus Motorsport stand-in rookie Cooper Murray was forced out 13th with a loose front splitter, with the rookie handed a mechanical black flag.
Waters pegged the margin back to 1.3s on lap 13, with Feeney, Brown and Payne within four seconds of the lead.
Aboard his repaired Matt Stone Racing Camaro, Cameron Hill kicked off the pit cycle after being taken out of traffic in the early laps. Bryce Fullwood stopped and served his false start penalty on lap 18, with Anton De Pasquale and Ryan Wood stopping on lap 19.
Chaz Mostert, down the order, followed Macauley Jones in and took on 39 litres of fuel, and gained another spot when David Reynolds was forced into the garage.
Mostert, who was caught out in the crash-strewn Friday qualifying, came into pit lane with a slipping clutch before the race start, and followed late ring-in Dale Wood to green.
As Waters continued to eat into Randle’s lead, Feeney stopped on lap 26 and took on approximately five seconds of fuel. Randle and Brown were brought in on the following lap, with Randle resuming behind Feeney. Brown, meanwhile rejoined six seconds behind the erstwhile leader.
Waters and Payne stopped, with Brodie Kostecki pressing on. Feeney was 2.8s ahead of Randle, who had 2.3s on Waters. Behind them, Murray sent Mark Winterbottom into a spin ahead of Payne and Brown, with James Courtney, De Pasquale, Ryan Wood and Fullwood rounding out the top 10. Murray was hit with a 15-second penalty over the clash.
Feeney took the lead on lap 32 once Kostecki stopped, creating a top 10 of Feeney, Randle, Waters, Payne, Brown, Courtney, De Pasquale, Wood, Fullwood and Heimgartner.
Payne was hit with a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits on lap 36, with Waters closing on Randle. By lap 45, Feeney had opened up a 5.3s lead over Randle, with Waters 4.8s ahead of Payne. Of the top five, Brown was set to take on the shortest fuel stop, but was 12.1s behind his teammate. On lap 46, Randle let Waters by on the run to Turn 9, with Feeney 6.4s ahead.
Wood was first to take his second stop from 11th on lap 47, with Waters eating into Feeney’s margin as the leader hit traffic. De Pasquale stopped from seventh two laps later, with Murray forced into pit lane again with loose bodywork.
Tickford brought Randle in on lap 50, with the 2020 Super2 champion forced to baulk behind Nick Percat on rejoin. Waters stopped on the next lap, and emerged comfortably ahead of his teammate. Feeney was serviced on the following lap, and emerged right in front of Waters.
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Brown followed Payne in on lap 52, and the points leader slotted in behind Randle. Payne, meanwhile, was 1.9s behind. The championship was in Brown’s hands, with Randle just ahead for effective third. All the while, Waters was also hit with a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.
On lap 57, Brown made his move at the Turn 9 hairpin, opening up a live 159-point lead over his teammate. Randle continued to fall back, dropping behind Payne into fifth, with Kostecki sixth following his extended stint.
As Feeney opened up a big lead, Brown caught Waters for second, and made the move at Turn 6 to open up a 168-point buffer.
Feeney cruised home, with Brown a distant second. Waters hung on for third ahead of Payne, with Randle, Kostecki, Courtney, Heimgartner, De Pasquale and Ryan Wood rounding out the top 10. Mostert, after starting last, finished 13th.
Dale Wood survived an off at Turn 5 to finish 22nd, ahead of Reynolds and Murray.
The Repco Supercars Championship will conclude on Sunday with Boost Mobile Qualifying, the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout, and Race 24.
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