Feeney Fired For Bathurst
Broc Feeney is hoping for the best 18th birthday present he can imagine at Bathurst.
“I turn 18 on race day, so hopefully my first legal drink will be champagne on the podium,” Feeney said.
In a year that is far from normal for co-drivers in The Great Race, the teen tearaway completed his pre-Bathurst testing with a run in James Courtney’s Boost Mustang at The Bend.
Feeney set the pace for much of the dedicated co-driver session on Saturday morning and finished up fourth, only beaten by three main game full-timers – Bryce Fullwood, Jake Kosteki and Macauley Jones.
“He was good. Really good. No mistakes and quick,” Courtney said.
The Super3 champion and Super2 contender in 2020 has already had a couple of runs in top-spec cars but said the time in Adelaide was different.
“I got the taste in Anton’s car last year in the co-driver session at Winton and I drove a DJR car last year. But it’s full-on now because we’re going to Bathurst,” he said.
“It was awesome. It was good to have a go in the car before we head to Bathurst. We had to make sure I was comfy, as I’m not using a seat insert for the race.”
Feeney began his track time on wet-weather Dunlop rubber after a rain shower, then switched to green soft-compound slicks to finish with a lap in 1 minute 16.5207 seconds, compared to the 1:15.9371 set by Fullwood.
“I was up the front for the whole session. We started on some old wets, which got me started.
“We had one set of greens so we put them on straight away. But then some of the main guys had a set of greens later and they jumped me.
“But I was the quickest co-driver. So it was a good start.”
So, how then did it feel to Feeney?
“Everything is all the same, except I was using the soft tyre and the car has more aero. There was more grip in the car.
“Everything inside the dar is the same as the Super2 car, so I was familiar with things like the steering wheel. It was good for me, because I could jump in the car without worrying.
“It’s not that different to drive, but you can push harder. It’s a little bit better everywhere.”
Feeney has been friends with Courtney for years, starting from his time in karts, and spent the rest of the race weekend in the Tickford pits to get a feel for how his team leader and the rest of the Boost crew go about their racing.
“I stayed for the weekend, to learn how the team operates. I got to hang out with the team and get to know the boys a lot more, build a bit of a relationship with the team.
“James is easy to get along with and there is always stuff to learn when I’m around those guys.
“I only got 20 minutes on the track but I did my thing and then sat down and watched James go around in circles for two days. I’m good to go now.”
