Supercars Adelaide Grand Final: Feeney shines in Saturday Qualifying, securing pole position for Triple Eight

Written by Jasmin Low

Supercars’ Saturday spectacle started off with the championship’s second round of qualifying sessions, seeing Broc Feeney take pole off the back of the Top Ten Shootout. 

With the grid set for for Race 33, Broc Feeney looks poised to break away from Chaz Mostert in his hunt for the title | Image: Jasmin Low

As it happened

Qualifying 1 got underway on a still-drying track surface, after rain had pummeled Adelaide's parklands in the hours leading up to the session.

Thomas Randle suffered yet another uneasy moment after hitting the wall at Turn 8, a near-repeat of his race-ending crash on Friday. 

Matt Payne occupied the top spot throughout the first half of qualifying with a time of 1:19.757, before the field returned to the pit lane, installing fresh rubber for hitting the track for their final laps. 

Randle and Aaron Cameron were next to knock Payne from the top spot, with the Triple Eight duo of Broc Feeney and Will Brown also punching in competitive laps. 

Meanwhile, tensions were high at Walkinshaw Andretti United as Mostert found himself in the elimination zone. The man hailing from Melbourne managed to lift himself out of the elimination zone and into fifth with his final flying lap. 

Qualifying 1 saw two shock-exits including Cam Waters, who had topped both practice sessions earlier in the weekend and started on the second row of the grid for Friday’s race. Also eliminated from the session was David Reynolds, who had consistently completed top 10-worthy laps across the weekend. Reynolds is set to start from 19th for Team 18. 

With 18 advancing into Qualifying 2, Feeney was the first to put in a fast lap, followed by Ryan Wood who had topped the first phase of qualifying. 

Mostert found himself stranded in the pit lane throughout the first half of the session, entering onto the tarmac out of sequence with the rest of the field and forfeiting the opportunity to complete two lots of qualifying runs. 

Cooper Murray found himself leading the pack as the session approached its final minute, before three of the four title contenders shot to the top of the timesheets and into the safe zone. 

However, Mostert's delayed appearance in the fast lane proved detrimental to his title fight. With the checkered flag flying, Mostert crossed the line in eleventh, missing out on the all-important Top Ten Shootout. 

With the 25-car grid whittled down to 10, and the sun smiling from above, the cars returned to complete the grid-order with a final 30-minute battle for pole. 

Brodie Kostecki was first to hit the track, flying through turns 1 and 2 before hitting a patch of oil and sliding into the barriers at Turn 5, losing a significant amount of time in the process. 

Cooper Murray was next across the line, also struggling for grip on the oily track surface, suffering a near-miss with the concrete barriers at Turn 8. Murray crossed the line with a time of 1:22.481, 0.301 seconds ahead of Kostecki. 

Oversteering on the oil-covered tarmac seemed to be a common denominator for the top 10, with Thomas Randle coming close to the wall, however the Melbournian was able to move ahead of his rivals, beating their times by over a second.  

Payne was fourth in line to set his lap for Grove racing, moving to the top with a time of 1:21.001. 

The first of the title contenders in Brown, who had suffered poor results in qualifying throughout the Finals Series, put in a lap which would be good enough for at least fifth place, before Anton De Pasquale nabbed provisional pole for Team 18. 

Aaron Cameron stunned with his time of 1:20.489 for Blanchard Racing Team, marking a career-best qualifying result for the rookie driver, who will start the race from second. 

Championship leader Feeney was able to avoid the oil down at Turn 4, setting all purple sectors before blowing his competitors out of the water with a time of 1:19.972. 

Home-state hero Allen was the penultimate driver to hit the track, however issues with the rookie's Mustang saw him finish the session in eighth.

Wood closed out the session with a time which would see him lining up on the second row of the grid, however no driver could stand in Feeney’s way, marking his second pole of the season and 18th of the season.