BROC Feeney had set out to turn heads in this year’s Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour – and he did just that, even if he didn’t get to drive in the race.
The Triple Eight Supercars star hadn’t so much as sat in a Ford Mustang GT3 prior to the Mount Panorama event, never mind driven one in anger.
But despite his first laps in the car coming during practice itself, Feeney got the nod to qualify over co-drivers Christopher Mies and Dennis Olsen, both of whom are past 12 Hour winners and have extensive experience of both car and track.
Feeney flagged prior to the event that he hoped the drive would open doors to international opportunities within the Ford family.
Should those doors now be open, Mies believes Feeney would excel in international GT3 racing.
“He would bloody smash it,” he told selected media, including V8 Sleuth.
“He’s good, right from the beginning he felt comfortable in the car.
“Across the top, across the mountain, down skyline, he has been an absolute legend.
“The way he drove there, neither me or Dennis could even match it. It was incredible to see and good to see and I think he would do really, really well in a GT car.”
The Haupt Racing Team Mustang GT3 at Bathurst. Pic: Ross Gibb
Feeney has already proven his skills in GT cars both at home and abroad.
He impressed in Mercedes-AMGs run by Triple Eight at previous Bathurst 12 Hours and for JMR both here and in Asia, the latter when it was aligned with the Supercars squad, and tackled last year’s IMSA ‘Battle on the Bricks’ at Indianapolis round aboard Kenny Habul’s 75 Express machine.
He has also proven rapid in Audis in recent years, and is the reigning GT World Challenge Australia champion with Brad Schumacher.
Although Feeney was going into the weekend with no real-world laps under his belt, Mies says the Mustang’s handling characteristics would have eased the transition.
“I always said to him before that the car is well known that even Bronze drivers, they are very close to the Pros because of the nature of the car; engine in the front, gearbox in the rear, the weight distribution and also the long wheelbase,” he said.
“It’s not as edgy and snappy as the cars I’ve driven in the past, so we have seen that in Europe already that Bronze drivers are way closer to the Pro drivers than in other cars.”
The car retired on just the fourth lap of the race when Mies struck a kangaroo on Conrod Straight at 250km/h, denying both Feeney and Olsen a drive.
Feeney backed up his Bathurst 12 Hour effort by winning two of three Supercars races at the following weekend’s Sydney 500 in Triple Eight’s Gen3 Mustang debut.
Pic: Supplied/Kass Brumley