JUST hours before lining up on pole position for the first time, Matt Stone Racing was scrambling to repair the rear of Jack Le Brocq’s Camaro.
The car was torn apart and put back together, with the help of zipties holding the rear bumper together.
There’s been many a time already this season that Le Brocq has qualified up the front, only to fade out of podium contention.
This time, they would not let their golden opportunity slip.
Le Brocq won the race to the first corner against a fast-starting Andre Heimgartner and was in command throughout the opening stint.
The big danger was the pitstop sequence – but that couldn’t have played better into MSR’s hands.
Broc Feeney and Will Brown pitted on Lap 16 from fourth and fifth with a view to undercutting those ahead, which also included Saturday race winner Mark Winterbottom.
The top three responded by all stopping the very next lap.
MSR’s pit crew were up to the task against their renowned BJR counterparts, Le Brocq and Heimgartner returning to the track in a one-two.
Winterbottom was not so lucky, passed by Feeney and then Brown – the latter using contact which earnt him a five-second penalty.
But at the front, it was Le Brocq’s race to lose with his one-second margin intact.
Le Brocq, engineered by fill-in Matt Saunders this weekend, calmly converted from there, crossing the line with 1.3499s in hand before delivering a burnout.
It marks Le Brocq’s second career win, his first coming with Tickford Racing in 2020.
Feeney took third from Will Brown, whose penalty demoted him to sixth.
That elevated Shane van Gisbergen to fourth and Cam Waters into the top five.
Mark Winterbottom, Will Davison, Chaz Mostert and Todd Hazelwood rounded out the 10.
Mostert’s drive from 25th was particularly impressive, pulling off a series of bold overtakes.
The big story overshadowed by Le Brocq’s heroics was a major dent to Brodie Kostecki’s championship campaign.
The Erebus Motorsport driver was involved in a first-lap tangle that damaged the front-right of his Coca-Cola Camaro.
Kostecki finished four laps down in last place and now has a reduced 59-point lead over Brown.
Feeney meanwhile is just 91 points off the series lead.
Results: Race 3, 2023 Darwin Triple Crown
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 34 | Jack Le Brocq | MSR | Chevrolet | 35 laps |
| 2 | 8 | Andre Heimgartner | BJR | Chevrolet | +1.349s |
| 3 | 88 | Broc Feeney | Triple Eight | Chevrolet | +8.493s |
| 4 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Triple Eight | Chevrolet | +10.314s |
| 5 | 6 | Cam Waters | Tickford | Ford | +12.405s |
| 6 | 9 | Will Brown | Erebus | Chevrolet | +14.925s |
| 7 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom | Team 18 | Chevrolet | +16.072s |
| 8 | 17 | Will Davison | DJR | Ford | +16.704s |
| 9 | 25 | Chaz Mostert | WAU | Ford | +24.35s |
| 10 | 3 | Todd Hazelwood | BRT | Ford | +25.317s |
| 11 | 14 | Bryce Fullwood | BJR | Chevrolet | +26.573s |
| 12 | 26 | David Reynolds | Grove | Ford | +28.022s |
| 13 | 96 | Macauley Jones | BJR | Chevrolet | +28.246s |
| 14 | 55 | Thomas Randle | Tickford | Ford | +29.17s |
| 15 | 2 | Nick Percat | WAU | Ford | +30.309s |
| 16 | 35 | Cameron Hill | MSR | Chevrolet | +32.987s |
| 17 | 11 | Anton De Pasquale | DJR | Ford | +33.96s |
| 18 | 23 | Tim Slade | PremiAir | Chevrolet | +34.73s |
| 19 | 56 | Declan Fraser | Tickford | Ford | +38.053s |
| 20 | 31 | James Golding | PremiAir | Chevrolet | +38.295s |
| 21 | 5 | James Courtney | Tickford | Ford | +39.791s |
| 22 | 4 | Jack Smith | BJR | Chevrolet | +42.536s |
| 23 | 20 | Scott Pye | Team 18 | Chevrolet | +47.112s |
| 24 | 888 | Zane Goddard | Triple Eight | Chevrolet | +51.029s |
| 25 | 19 | Matthew Payne | Grove | Ford | +53.995s |
| 26 | 99 | Brodie Kostecki | Erebus | Chevrolet | +4 laps |
