The Repco Supercars Championship continued the weekend at Reid Park in Townsville, Queensland, on Saturday for Race 21 of the NTI Townsville 500. David Reynolds started the race on the pole, and Matthew Payne started second.
The race got off to a wild start on the first lap when Jack Evans hit Cam Waters, who then hit Thomas Randle, and James Golding caught air before slamming into the barriers at Turn 3 leading to the first safety car. Before the crash, Matthew Payne beat Reynolds to take the lead.
The race restarted on a sixth lap. Broc Feeney passed Jack Le Brocq for third place. Shortly after the restart, Will Davison was hit from behind by Will Brown. Davison’s rear guard was pushed onto the tire, and he went to pit road for repairs. Brown was issued a five-second penalty for the contact.
Not long after the incident, the safety car was deployed for the second time after James Courtney’s car blew an engine. During the caution, Anton De Pasquale, Cooper Murray, Bryce Fullwood, and Ryan Wood stayed out, while everyone else went to pit road. Once those drivers went to pit road, Broce Feeney was the leader, with Matthew Payne in second when the race resumed on lap 18.
Feeney, Payne, Brodie Kostecki, and Chaz Mostert quickly pulled away from the rest of the field. However, Feeney began to open a gap on Payne. On lap 35, Mostert passed Kostecki for third place, and Kostecki later fell to fourth place behind Will Brown.
With 27 laps to go, Feeney’s lead over Payne was three seconds as another round of pit stops was underway. When the pit stop cycles were complete, Feeney was the leader, with Payne second and Mostert third. Mostert and Payne were in a battle for second place, while Feeney was pulling away. Mostert would get by Payne, but he was far behind Feeney.
Broc Feeney went on to beat Chaz Mostert by 6.429 seconds for his 21st career win. Matthew Payne, Will Brown, and Brodie Kostecki rounded out the top five. Anton De Pasquale, Jack Le Brocq, Ryan Wood, Cooper Murray, and David Reynolds rounded out the top ten.
The Repco Supercars conclude the Townsville 500 on Saturday at 6 pm on YouTube.
