Setting fastest lap and victory ensured Broc Feeney took away a strong points haul after the opening race of the MSS Security Melbourne SuperSprint at Albert Park.
Leading a Red Bull Ampol Racing 1-2, Feeney conserved his tyres during the mid-stint of the race and accelerated in the end to beat Will Brown by 2.3s.
New Zealander Matt Payne was third despite a mistake at the penultimate corner allowing Bendix Racing’s Nick Percat through, but a 5s penalty demoted the Chevrolet Camaro driver to sixth.
Contact with Chaz Mostert at the penultimate corner led to Percat’s penalty as the Mobil 1 Optus Racing Mustang finishing fourth as a battle with ex-teammate Cameron Waters fell in the 2021 Bathurst winners favour.
A jumped start investigation hung over Anton De Pasquale’s race, but no penalty was applied to finish sixth clear of Snowy River Racing’s James Courtney, who took advantage of a penalty for Todd Hazelwood as the Erebus Motorsport driver was ninth ahead of teammate Jack Le Brocq.
A big comeback drive from Mark Winterbottom was just short of the top 10 as he led a tight battle pack of Richie Stanaway and Cameron Hill.
Those to hit trouble included Jaxon Evans after he got loose at the final corner and collected the fence with the rear of his SCT Motorsport Chevrolet, while James Golding was spun by Ryan Wood on the opening lap.
Castrol Racing’s Thomas Randle also slid off at Turn 3 and recovered to 18th before dropping to 22nd at the end of the race.
One race for the Repco Supercars Championship follows tomorrow at 2:50pm AEDT.