Thrills in the Tropics: The Heat of the NTI Townsville 500

Race 20 was the shortest of the 3 throughout the weekend. Red Bull Ampol

drivers Will Brown and Broc Feeney had a tough qualifying session for this

race, only managing positions 14 and 20.

Pole position was Brodie Kostecki. Alongside him was the Monster entrant of

Cam Waters in P2, and P3 was Will Davison. Matt Payne managed to

overtake quickly to attack the 2 front runners.

With Brodie Kostecki on pole, it was a good day for the Shell V-Power team.

Kostecki maintained his position throughout this shorter race, ensuring a P1

finish. His teammate Will Davison finished P7. He had a tough day, all things

considered.

Whilst Kostecki was maintaining the lead, Waters had slowly begun his

attempt to gain on Kostecki, but the gap began to jump further and further.

Waters, unfortunately, did not have the speed to catch Kostecki. Whilst it was a tough qualifying for the two of them, they worked hard to make their way through the field. By the end of the race, they had made it to P8 and P10. Will Brown had one of the largest gains, being up 11 positions by the end of the race. 

Ultimately, Shell V-power, Tickford Racing and Team18 would benefit from race 20. Your winner was Brodie Kostecki, P2 was Cam Waters, and P3 was Anton De Pasquale RACE 21

Race 21 was one for the books. David Reynolds was on pole, with a brilliant shootout lap of 1:12.8352s. P2 alongside Reynolds was Matthew Payne. In terms of qualifying, Tickford had a tough day down in P15 with Thomas Randle and P21 with Cam Waters. 

From the jump, it was Payne who took the lead before the safety car was deployed due to early contact and the stopped car of James Golding. Jaxon Evan had an even tougher situation after damage to the brake duct due to contact from the pileup. He later returned to track, completing only 13 laps.  Feeney made quick work of overtaking Jack Le Brocq, as well as Brodie Kostecki up on from James Courtney. James Courtney was unfortunately the next driver out, due to engine failure. He completed 11 laps before his DNF. 

There was damage on Thomas Randle’s car very early on, with the shock absorber taking the brunt of that. Kai Allen was another driver with minor damage after an error resulted in him hitting the barrier, but he reversed it back out and continued. 

There were many time penalties handed out. This included a 5-second penalty for car 01, Will Brown, another 5-second penalty for car 06, Cam Waters and a 15-second penalty for car 08, Andre Heimgartner. 

Ultimately, it was a day for the RedBull Ampol driver, Broc Feeney, as he went on to win Race 21, ahead of Chaz Mostert in P2 and Matthew Payne in P3.

RACE 22:

Whilst this race was not as action-filled as Race 21, Race 22 was still an interesting one. 

Broc Feeney was on pole with Matthew Payne in P2 and Anton De Pasquale in P3. And it was a showdown for the front end at the beginning, with De Pasquale making quick work and overtaking Matt Payne. Early on, James Golding was down 4 positions, and David Reynolds was down 3. 

Waters began with the early pit stops, managing a 5.9-second stop, compared to Chaz Mostert (also 5.9 seconds) and Bryce Fullwood, with the fastest time of 5.7 seconds. A 15-second penalty was given to David Reynolds after minor contact with James Courtney. 

Issues were piling on, especially for Will Davison, who ended up losing a wheel nut and had to pit to fit that issue. Matt Hill had plenty going wrong as well, including brake fluid leaking. Eventually, Hill was back out with a brand-new brake calliper, due to extensive damage to the other one. 

In the end, Sunday was the day for the RedBull Ampol duo with Broc Feeney, winning again in Townsville, and Will Brown taking out P2. Chaz Mostert brought another podium for Walkinshaw Andretti United (WAU), managing P3. Cam Waters with an impressive result and a P4 finish in Townsville. Your fastest lap for Race 22 was Jack Le Brocq. 

Your championship remains close. Especially between the top 3 runners. The next race weekend is the 2025 Century Batteries Ipswich Super 440 on the 8th-10th of August. 

1^st: Broc Feeney- 1759pts

2^nd: Will Brown- 1539pts

3^rd: Matthew Payne- 1524pts

4^th: Cam Waters- 1341pts

5^th: Chaz Mostert- 1259pts

6^th: Brodie Kostecki- 1107pts

7^th: Anton De Pasquale- 981pts

8^th: Thomas Randle- 959pts

9^th: Andre Heimgartner- 951pts

10^th: Ryan Wood- 914pts