MOTORSPORT: Supercars underdogs dominate Darwin
Winterbottom, Le Brocq and Feeney win as Ford struggles continue and Waters burnedThe Betr Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway served up underdog race winners, a spectacular blaze and continued arguments over parity in the 2023 Australian Repco Supercars Championship.
On track, Mark Winterbottom and Jack Le Brocq broke through for the maiden wins for their respective Team 18 and Matt Stone Racing squads, while Broc Feeney won a Sunday race for the fourth successive meet, elevating him to third in the standings.
For 2015 Supercars champion Winterbottom, the breakthrough result came seven years after his most recent win.
“It's been a lot of work from the guys and girls here at the track and back at the workshop, and all of our sponsors, our fans and our supporters,” said Winterbottom.
“It’s a really cool moment, and I can’t thank everyone enough for the support.
“We’ve won one, I’m not saying we're going to win them all, but far out, it feels good to get a trophy.”
Meanwhile, for Le Brocq, the victory validates his previous win, which was earned in a mixed tyre race during the locked-down 2020 season.
“It’s pretty unreal. The guys have done an awesome job, especially the last few hours. It was pretty beaten up in that second race today,” said Le Brocq, who wore the worst damage from a race two melee.
“I feel like it’s been a long time coming.
“We’ve had good speed this year, and it's great to convert to solid race pace as well.”
The biggest drama of the meet came early in the opening heat when polesitter and race leader Cameron Waters looked set to break the Chevrolet stranglehold on the season, until a fuel fitting broke, with the Mustang catching alight.
Remarkably, the Tickford squad were able to completely rebuild the car by 3:30am Sunday, with Waters rebounding to be the best-placed Ford in the finale.
Others in the wars included championship leader Brodie Kostecki, who finished 26th in the last race after suffering broken steering after first-lap contact.
Off track, parity politics came to the forefront, with Chevrolet capturing their 14th win from the 15 races contested to date this year, and Ford’s lone success coming off the back of the double-Triple Eight Race Engineering disqualification from the season-opening encounter.
To date, Ford has expressed its displeasure at the current measures in place to equalise the new Mustang and Camaro models, with pressure mounting on Supercars to make changes.
Next up for the Repco Supercars Championship is the NTI Townsville 500 over July 7-9.
Race 1 – 35 laps
- Mark Winterbottom (DeWalt Camaro)
- Broc Feeney (Red Bull Ampol Camaro)
- Will Davison (Shell V-Power Mustang)
- Brodie Kostecki (Coca-Cola Camaro)
- Bryce Fullwood (Middy’s Camaro)
- Shane van Gisbergen (Red Bull Ampol Camaro)
- Will Brown (Coca-Cola Camaro)
- Chaz Mostert (Optus Camaro)
- Anton De Pasquale (Shell V-Power Mustang)
- Tim Slade (Nulon Camaro)
Race 2 – 35 laps
- Broc Feeney
- Shane van Gisbergen
- Andre Heimgartner
- Brodie Kostecki
- Will Brown
- James Golding (Nulon Camaro)
- Macauley Jones (Pizza Hut Camaro)
- Bryce Fullwood
- Scott Pye (Hino Camaro)
- Thomas Randle (Castrol Mustang)
Race 3 – 35 laps
- Jack Le Brocq (Truck Assist Camaro)
- Andre Heimgartner
- Broc Feeney
- Shane van Gisbergen
- Cameron Waters
- Will Brown
- Mark Winterbottom
- Will Davison
- Chaz Mostert
- Todd Hazelwood (CoolDrive Mustang)
Championship points:
- Brodie Kostecki – 1164
- Will Brown – 1105
- Broc Feeney – 1073
- Shane can Gisbergen – 1054
- Chaz Mostert – 985
- Andre Heimgartner – 882
- Cameron Waters – 877
- Jack Le Brocq – 814
- Will Davison – 802
- David Reynolds (Penrite Mustang) – 743
Related: MOTORSPORT: Ford Mustang GT3 racer revealed
Related: MOTORSPORT: Chevrolet young guns dominate
Related: MOTORSPORT: van Gisbergen set for NASCAR debut
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