Feeney bullish on closing gap to SVG on familiar circuits

Broc Feeney is bullish about closing the gap to team-mate Shane van Gisbergen once he is back on circuits at which he has Supercars experience.

Feeney took the chequered flag second in Race 1 in Newcastle and fifth in Race 2, meaning, if not for Red Bull Ampol Racing’s dual disqualification from the former, which is under appeal, he would be third in the championship.

By the same logic, van Gisbergen would, of course, be on top of the table with a perfect score, with a victory of 14 seconds over his younger team-mate in Race 1.

Feeney finished 2022 with a breakthrough race win on the streets of Adelaide but Team Principal Jamie Whincup spoke in the 2023 pre-season about the need for him to “step up” again this year, after similar comments from van Gisbergen at the back end of last year.

The 20-year-old thinks that his results in Newcastle are proof of a step, pointing out that it was another new circuit.

“I came second in the race; I beat 24 other dudes or whatever it is,” Feeney told Speedcafe.com.

“If people don’t think I made a step up [in Newcastle], I don’t know what I’ve got to do.

“I’ve made a good step with a second and a fifth, we’ll be P3 in the championship if all goes well, so it’s been a solid weekend for us.

“In pre-briefs, me and my engineer [Martin Short] and Jamie sort of said that if we can walk away with two top fives, we’ll be happy, it’d be a good result overall, and we certainly did that.

“[It was my] First time in a Supercar here. I mean, I’m sure when we go to some other tracks we can close that gap to Shane, but two solid results for both cars.”

Feeney had experience at the Newcastle East Street Circuit, as recently as 2018, but that was in a Toyota 86.

Whincup made a similar point to his successor in Car #88.

“I think he did a great job; P2 and P5 for a kid that’s still 20 years old, and it is a circuit that he hasn’t raced a Supercar at,” the Triple Eight Race Engineering boss told Speedcafe.com.

“So, he’ll have a lot more experience when he goes to a circuit that we raced at last year, and [Newcastle] is still a brand-new circuit.

“I can’t ask for anything more from the young fella.”

Triple Eight’s appeal over its Race 1 disqualification will be heard tonight.