“Hold on, wait a minute. Sydney? What do you mean it’s the opening round of 2025? Weren’t we just watching Will blow the sides off his Camaro down the start straight in Adelaide? With heaps of confetti? (We haven’t got that out of our hair yet – oh well.)

Well, if that’s true, we are SO back. SMP is our official return to racing, and the kickstart to a new brand of Supercars! And the fellas are gassed up, ready to rip. Why, might you ask? They’ve been racing. A lot. Insert quotes about iron sharpening iron, more seat time, and versatility. How about some open wheelers in New Zealand, GT3’s at the Mountain for half a day, triathlons, and planes? Maybe Will wasn’t racing planes but they go fast enough to put them here!

Wheeling a whole range of automobiles, the boys haven’t really had much of an offseason, but they wouldn’t have it any other way. Put it this way – running against some of the world’s finest GT3 talents, and competing? Standard procedure. BFeen’s first weekend in an open wheeler to put it on pole for the NZGP? Stoked. Will winning the damn thing, and being the first Aussie to do so in 50 years? Ultimate stoke.

But we are heading to Sydney, and this is Supercar racing – not much like it. And for some spice, a brand-new way to get to the final flag in Adelaide in 9 months’ time. The 2025 season is all about wins, points are essentially numbers on the chalkboard.

The year starts with the 8-round “Sprint Cup”, where the best performing driver from Friday night in Sydney, till Sunday afternoon back at the old stomping ground at Queensland Raceway will be crowned Sprint Champ. This is critical, as it gives that driver an automatic Finals berth (spot 1 of 4).

We then head to arguably everyone’s favorite format – the Enduro’s. The “Enduro Cup” will be contested across a 500km duel at The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia, before heading to NSW to tick off the big one at Bathurst. The winner of the Enduro Cup will be given the 2nd Finals berth (spot 2 of 4).

Now this is where math is needed. After the first 27 races of the year, the top ten in points will qualify for the Finals, alongside the Sprint and Enduro Cup winners. and all ten will have points reset to 3000 – all square. Enter the Gold Coast 500. Any driver from the 10 finalists who wins a race at the Gold Coast event, will be guaranteed a place at the Sandown event. After the Gold Coast, the bottom three drivers will be eliminated from title contention, leaving seven drivers to advance.

Sandown might have lost its enduro status, but it becomes one of the biggest races for those still in contention for the Final in Adelaide. The remaining 7 from the GC will have points reset to 4000 – all square. Any driver from the seven remaining finalists who wins a race at Sandown, will be guaranteed a place at the Adelaide Grand Final.

Bonus points will be applied following Sandown, and once again, the bottom three drivers will be eliminated, leaving the top four to battle it out in the final round – equal on 5000 points. Don’t worry, it gets easier now! The champion will be determined across three races – one 100km on Friday, one 250km on Saturday and the final 250km race of the year on Sunday afternoon, where points from these races will be added to the 5000 from the start of the weekend to crown a Champ.

Phew, that is a lot. But we’ve got eyes for Sydney right now. And speaking of, head below to hear from the boys about their summer and how they are feeling heading into the first of 13 rounds in 2025

“I’m looking forward to getting into the start of the season and yeah just getting into the racing. It hasn’t felt like it’s been a massive off season for me for the amount of racing I’m doing, but I’m definitely looking forward to getting back into a Supercar.

I think I’ve just been in the car as much as I can and I think that can only help, getting as much track time as possible. Definitely keeps you sharp. So, hopefully that’s the case.

We want to win races at the end of the day. We’re going there to try and have the championship lead at the end of the weekend and hopefully we can win a race, but you never know. The Fords were really strong here last year, so we’ll just wait and see.”

Will Brown
Driver #1 Chevrolet Camaro
Red Bull Ampol Racing

“I’m keen to get back into it. Everyone’s obviously gonna say that, but it’s exciting to be back for another year. Sydney wasn’t a strong round for us last year, so I’m looking forward to having a test day there, and hopefully rolling out good. But for me, I had a fair bit of time off and then been busy the last few weeks racing, so I feel fresh and ready to just get the ball rolling. But for me it’s about getting back into a routine of racing.”

“You always need a rest. I definitely needed a rest at the end of last year but for me it was important to do a few races before coming back to round one just to make sure I was sharp.”

“Doing the Bathurst 12 Hour and then doing the New Zealand Grand Prix was all about expanding my knowledge by driving two different cars there and working with different people. So for me it’s, it’s exciting. It’s another new year. I’ve got the same crew, but as always, it’s the same goal”

Broc Feeney
Driver #88 Chevrolet Camaro
Red Bull Ampol Racing

On-track action fires up with free ticketed access to the official Supercars Test Day On Wednesday 19 while the Sydney 500 commences with the only practice session of the weekend at 12:40PM, followed by Qualifying at 3:20PM and a 100km intro to 2025 at 6:50PM! For more info and the weekends on-track schedule, head to the Supercars website.

We can’t wait to see you all there!

Sydney 500 – Practice, Qualifying & Race 1 Results

Will Brown – Car #1
Practice 1 – 12th (1:30.7310)
Qualifying (Race 1) – 11th (1:29.7708)
Race 1 – Fifth

Drivers’ Championship Standings – Fifth (57 points)

“I had a good start. My first lap wasn’t too bad. We sort of got in a really big battle with Ryan Wood and it was great racing, but unfortunately that hurts. Hurts your lap time, and it really hurts your tyres. So, we passed each other about four or five times.”

“But overall, we did a really good strategy. We put four tyres on in the stop and was able to come back through the field and finish fifth. So, for a very tough night like tonight, it’s a great recovery by the team and really happy with the strategy. The stop was really good by the boys.”

“We just need to have a good look at our car overnight, tune it up, tune myself up in qualifying and then have another crack tomorrow.”

Broc Feeney – Car #88
Practice 1 – 18th (1:30.9757)
Qualifying – Second (1:28.9452)
Race 1 (Race 1) – 14th

Drivers’ Championship Standings – 14th (27 points)

Teams’ Championship Standings – Third (84 points)

“Overall, to qualify front row, I think we did a really good job to maximize there. I got a good initial jump and then I think I hit the paint and wheel spun, but tried to settle into a rhythm pretty early, realized didn’t have the pace of Cam (Waters), and just tried to focus on our long run pace.”

“Unfortunately, on the lap that we were pitting, I had a slide and caught the edge at turn three and there’s a 30 centimetre drop off there and got a puncture. So, we went back to last, and got back to 14th. I’m pretty obviously gutted it was just a stupid mistake, but it’s just such a fine line out there. So anyway, I made a mistake, and I think we are the second-best car, but we’ve got a long way to go to catch Cam.”

“I think we’re all right. As I said, I think we were probably on for second. But Cam’s on another planet out there. They’ve done a fantastic job. Kudos to them. They’ve rolled out super strong, so we know where we can be, but we want to be able to fight for the win tomorrow night.”

Sydney 500 – Official Test Day

“Good start to the season ending up first for the end of the day, especially with number one on for the first time, but it wasn’t that easy of a day to be honest. It’s quite hard around here. We don’t have a lot of tyres. We seemed out of sync to a few cars, so felt pretty stressed throughout the day with our pace. But, we seemed to be fast at the end.

“It’s very hard because there’s not a lot to take from three quarters of today. It was literally running on last year’s tyres that are old and at Sydney Motorsport Park, there’s a lot of degradation so you’re never sure where you’re at. But at the end of the day, everyone seemed to put the new spec tyre on, and did some race runs. So tonight, it’ll be about looking into that data, finding out, who did good race runs, who was fast on a green tyre, which luckily, we were, but the biggest thing is the race runs. We’ve got to look into them, see where we’re at and then go from there.

“Obviously, it was disappointing to hear about Aaron Love losing his brakes. That was a big impact for him. I was also out the car and saw everyone run down with fire extinguishers, so not sure what happened to the PremiAir car, but none of that really affected our day. Luckily, we were out of the car at that time doing changes.

“I’m feeling positive after that last session. I think we’ve got good green tyre pace. It’s just working out what the new tyre’s going to do over a race run. Biggest thing is about qualifying well always. So hopefully we can do that. But there’s going to be a lot of fast guys this weekend, and I’m looking forward to racing at night, looking forward to getting into the season. Hopefully there’s a big crowd and hopefully it’s an exciting weekend”

“It’s good to be back in the car and do some laps. It’s always hard testing here at Sydney just due to the nature of the track and the degradation and not knowing what everyone else is on. But I felt like the morning was really good. I think we got through a fair bit of our plan in the morning before the track heated up a lot. And then the middle part of the day is probably more procedures. We got Jamie in to do a few laps. We did some practice starts and pit stops, which was good. And then, focused on working on the new tyre and, and race run this afternoon.

“So, all good. It was changing so much with the sun and the clouds and the track temperature up and down so much. It was so hard to know where you’re at today. But look, we got through a bit of our program and plenty of learning for the weekend. There are always learnings to take away, but we’re going to be racing in very different conditions to what we’ve tested in today. We got a day and a half to look at what we need to improve on and, but we’ve got a base for sure. We’ll rock up with something fine-tuned on Friday.”

“It was just good to be back with the team again and spend the day as a, a fly on the wall and see what I can learn while they’re doing their thing. But for me it was a great opportunity. I still got five laps in the car so that was good. It’s one of those days though, where middle of the day, the track’s hot and the tyres are always the talking factor, but I think the crew did an amazing job for Will to finish up quickest by the margin he did. It wasn’t an easy day; they didn’t stop working. So, I’m stoked. It just impresses me every time I’m in this pit, how they work and operate. 

Well, we didn’t win Bathurst in 2024. I’d love to achieve that this year (winning Bathurst), but I think that expectations haven’t changed for sure. I think this team, when you join here, there’s an expectation and everyone knows what that is and, that doesn’t change. And then on yourself, you always put the most amount of pressure on yourself every time you’re in the car. So that’s all the same. My approach hasn’t changed – my job’s just to contribute, do the best job I can and prepare as well as I can as well. Days like today are really important for that. Just do my job and hopefully contribute what I can to a win at the end of the day would be lovely.”

“Great to get in the car and just get a feel for it. It’s my first laps in a race car this year and it just reminds me of how cool these cars are. Grateful for the few laps, but today was all about making sure Broc and Will were comfortable in the car and learning the new tyre.”

“But we had a good solid day team-wise. We ran through our program, so it was a solid day with great weather conditions, which is never taken for granted. Certainly the boys are on track, it’s  hard to tell the pace of everybody because you don’t know what tyre everyone’s on, which is always the case for this first test day.”

Sydney 500 – Qualifying, Top Ten Shootout & Race 2 Results

Will Brown – Car #1
Qualifying, Race 2 – Fifth (1:29.4040)
Top Ten Shootout – Fifth (1:29.5832)
Race 2 – Third

Drivers’ Championship Standings – Third (145 points)

“The race was good. I got a pretty good start and made a few quick passes there. Managed the car after the safety car was able to pass Chaz and Matt and then from there, I was just trying to get a bit further up and closer to Cam and Broc, but I’d dropped off a bit.”

“But at the end of the race there, it got bloody wild. I felt like I was out there in dodging cars, just running into each other, so that was cool racing. It seems like we can take the gloves off now and start swinging, so it’ll be interesting.”

“Yeah, the car is much, much better. I’m really happy with the car, really happy with the step forwards we’ve made throughout the day.”

Broc Feeney – Car #88
Qualifying, Race 2 – Second (1:29.1185)
Top Ten Shootout – Second (1:29.3630)
Race 2 – Second

Drivers’ Championship Standings – Sixth (130 points)

Teams’ Championship Standings – Second (275 points)

“It was a pretty good first stint. I think we were able to put a bit more pressure on Cam and the rest of the field. More importantly though, we learnt what he can do better than what we can. So that was important. I got him at the stop, which is a big thanks to my crew, and then we were able to hold him at bay and just pull away from the rest of the field. He obviously just had heaps of pace at the end of the race, and I knew he was going to eventually catch me. He then turned me with about five laps to go and that really hurt, just for the fact that it cooked my tyres.”

“Then it became a three-way scrap between myself, Cam and Will – and Cam was having a few cracks on the last few laps and then just got into my rear quarter panel in the last corner. I think he tried to redress, but just held enough overlap that he’d be able to slip stream past down the straight. Unfortunately, once I got hit at the last corner, I was done.”

“But at the end of the day, today’s been a good day for the team. I think a huge bounce back. I mean, he’s (Cam) obviously extremely strong, but we put on him under a lot of pressure today. Obviously, we’re able to race hard at the moment, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Today we were a lot stronger in the race, but I think we now know where we can be even stronger again. I look forward to really digging in and getting to that top step tomorrow.”

 Sydney 500 – Qualifying, Top Ten Shootout & Race 3 Results

Will Brown – Car #1
Qualifying, Race 3 – 10th (1:29.5264)
Top Ten Shootout – 4th (1:29.9979)
Race 3 – 2nd

Drivers’ Championship Standings – 2nd (255 points)

“Today wasn’t really too bad. I was able to get into second from fourth and then manage the car throughout. I felt like we had a really good first stint, but probably dropped off a little in the second stint. Broc seemed really fast and was coming back at us, but the last stint was just about managing it in the wet, not making a mistake and getting the car back.”

“So, for us, in what was not a good weekend for us to get a second, third and a fifth, I think is a really good recovery and I’m pretty happy with our results. Just got to go back to the drawing board and work out why we weren’t as good in qualifying, but also as a team.”

“Broc was fast, but we’re still a fair way off Cam (Waters), so we’ve got to work that out. I think I would have ended up about second in the championship now. So, after the first weekend, that’s not too bad. Cam’s obviously come out with a bang winning all three races and doing that at the first round is a massive achievement. We need to come back stronger at Grand Prix and do a better job.”

Broc Feeney – Car #88
Qualifying, Race 3 – 2nd (1:29.3018)
Top Ten Shootout – 2nd (1:29.7199)
Race 3 – 5th

Drivers’ Championship Standings – 4th (216 points)

“We closed a gap in qualifying again today. Three front row starts is pretty solid to start the year. So we executed really well in qualifying. And then to be honest, I actually got a really good start. I had a bit of a lead into turn one and got pushed back to third. We sort of came back towards the end at the second stint, and then in the last stint we were just running around in a comfortable third and was passing someone who was pretty much three quarters of a lap down, out of sync, and just completely ran me off the road. Just got caught up in someone else’s incident.”

“It dropped me back to fourth and then the rain came and dropped back another spot. It probably should have been another podium today except for someone’s stupid mistake at the end of the day and cost me quite dearly. I’m just hoping top have a little bit more luck at the next couple of rounds, I’ve just had a couple of things not go my way.”

“To be honest, myself and Will, compared to the rest of the field have got what felt like quite a big margin, and we’re able to pull away from the rest of the field. But then Cam’s got that advantage again on us, so we’ve got a fair bit of work to do. He was super strong here. But I’ve got no doubt once we get into the year a bit more, we’ll be a bit more competitive.”