Scary scenes as coolsuit failure sees Supercars winner in agony after young gun’s late heartbreak

Broc Feeney has reclaimed an early championship lead in the 2026 Repco Supercars Championship after winning the third and final race of the Sydney 500.

The Red Bull Ampol Racing star led from pole position, but was made to work for it by an inspired Kai Allen, the pair going toe-to-toe on several occasions in a fierce duel.

Watch every race of the 2026 Repco Supercars Championship LIVE & ad-break free during racing on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.

However, it was Feeney who outlasted Allen and his Penrite Racing Mustang, with the 20-year-old South Australian falling out of the race inside the final 10 laps.

Feeney, however, had his own issues to deal with, after an early coolsuit failure left him with warm water flowing over his body. A physically distressed Feeney sat by his car in parc ferme after a hot afternoon’s work.

Allen got a slightly better launch than Feeney off the front row, and the pair locked horns on the run to and through Turn 1, but the Penrite Mustang continued to hold strong on the outside.

However, Feeney would close the door at the exit of Turn 2, and immediately put the hammer down at the front of the field.

He wasn’t the only one on the charge, with Brodie Kostecki gaining three places on the opening lap, and both Ryan Wood and Cam Waters gaining six places on Lap 1. By Lap 6, Waters had moved from 20th to 10th in a demon start.

Both Cameron Hill and David Reynolds both found themselves going backwards on the next lap, when they were involved in a mad scramble at Turn 6.

Reynolds was pushed wide by Jobe Stewart at Turn 5, with Hill, Rylan Gray, and Macauley Jones all looking to capitalise and forming a gaggle of cars.

Gray would spear into Hill, whilst Stewart found himself in the middle of a three-wide sandwich with Jones and Reynolds, with the latter the odd one out. The DJR rookie was slapped with a 15 second penalty for the contact with Hill.

Matt Payne and Anton De Pasquale would be the first to dive in for stops at conclusion of Laps 12 and 13 respectively, before Payne’s teammate Allen boxed from second on at the end of Lap 15.

Feeney’s only trouble in the first stint was when an errant bit of rubbish clogged up his front grille, which caused his engine temperatures to rise.

However, Allen’s stop proved to help Feeney, who was able to comfortably cover Allen’s undercut at the end of Lap 16, with the debris also cleared.

James Golding briefly led before he pitted two laps after Feeney, however he lost effective third to the early-stopping De Pasquale.

After the first round of stops, the potential for rain became a hot topic, with teams beginning to tel their drivers to prepare for incoming rain before the second round of stops.

Erebus Motorsport had already had a tough day when Cooper Murray’s starter motor packed up on the formation lap, and it only got worse when Stewart was forced to dive into the pits with a right front tyre that had come loose and been cut down by the brake caliper.

After being undercut by De Pasquale, Golding was able to climb back ahead of the DEWALT Camaro on Lap 23 with a forceful move at Turn 4, however his charge would be short-lived.

His left rear wheel would part company on Lap 29, and roll through across the grass from Turn 9 through to the apex of Turn 11, narrowly missing Ryan Wood’s Supra.

With the tyre sitting on the outside of the track, the Shannons Safety Car was called, with the field all diving in to make their final stops of the race.

However, it wasn’t until the stop cycle was completed that the rain arrived, leaving the majority of the field out on slick tyres.

PremiAir Racing gambled on wet tyres for both of their drivers in Jayden Ojeda and Declan Fraser, whilst Murray also dived in with a lap to green.

Feeney accelerated out of the final corner but brought Allen with him, who then set sail around the outside of Turn 1, the pair banging doors, before Allen found the lead in a sensational move.

However, his lead was to be short-lived as he ran wide at Turn 8, allowing Feeney back through into the lead.

That wasn’t even the most dramatic moment of the restart lap, as Brown, Kostecki, and De Pasquale went three wide into Turn 4, with Brown bumping the Shell V-Power Ford into the DEWALT Chevrolet.

De Pasquale was spun across the bow of Kostecki, and then nailed the left rear of Brown, tagging him into a wild spin. Despite being spun to the rear of the field, Brown would cop a 15 second penalty.

Allen wasn’t done with Feeney either, and tagged the back of the #88 Ford at Turn 2 on Lap 37, with Allen wisely backing out of the throttle to let Feeney gather up his moment.

The Penrite Mustang was edging ever closer to the leader with eight laps to go when his hard charge come to a sudden halt thanks to a left front steering failure on the #26 Ford.

That let Feeney off the hook with a three and a half second gap over Payne, whilst it also promoted Cam Waters onto the podium after a staggering charge from 20th on the grid.

Whilst Feeney cruised to a victory margin of just under three seconds, there was even more drama on the last lap, as Brodie Kostecki turned Aaron Cameron around at Turn 2, costing BRT another strong haul of points for fourth.

Kostecki received a 15 second penalty post-race, dropping him from fourth to 12th at the flag, promoting Chaz Mostert up to a fine fourth in his Walkinshaw TWG Toyota behind Waters.

Amazingly, all five Supras finished inside the top 10 in a remarkable turn of events, with Ryan Wood in fifth, Hill seventh after being turned around early, Andre Heimgartner in ninth, and Macauley Jones.

Jack Le Brocq claimed sixth for Matt Stone Racing, with Thomas Randle in eighth for Tickford.

The Repco Supercars Championship heads to the Melbourne SuperSprint from March 5-8, on the undercard of the Australian Grand Prix.

This article was originally published at Supercars.com and was republished with permission.