THERE was a simple explanation for the late hiccup which cost Broc Feeney second place in Race 2 of the MSS Security Melbourne SuperSprint.
“My foot just fell off the brake pedal. I ‘effed’ up,” he told V8 Sleuth.
Despite trailing teammate Will Brown, Feeney had the chance to hang onto the championship lead if he could finish second and bag the five bonus points for fastest lap.
REPORT: Brown wins shortened Albert Park race
However, it all fell apart when the #88 Red Bull Ampol driver slid wide at Turn 13 on the penultimate lap.
That came not as he was trying to complete a fastest lap push, but rather as he was setting up for a last lap effort.
That error allowed Mark Winterbottom and Matt Payne to swoop, demoting Feeney to fourth.
“It’s disappointing because it was a pretty solid one-two with a lap to go,” said Feeney, who is now 18 points behind Brown but 65 points clear of third-placed Chaz Mostert.
“I was trying to set up to do the fastest lap and made a mistake.”
Feeney laughed he is getting sick of the orange numbers (denoting the series leader) swapping back and forth in the Triple Eight garage, but is enjoying the intra-team battle.
“Everyone in pitlane wants to be in the position we’re in at the moment,” he said.
“I’m sure there’s going to be times where it gets tricky between the two of us battling up front all the time, but it’s a great position for the team to be in.
“We have just got to keep maintaining it, is the biggest thing.
“Obviously a big focus is to try to be in front of the other car early in the race and then you can manage it from there.
“For us, it’s reset and go again tomorrow. We have got two more qualifyings to set up the rest of the weekend.”
