Supercars: Triple Eight star Broc Feeney on Formula One, Shane van Gisbergen and his title hopes
Today, an ambitious Broc Feeney ‘wants to be a champion’ in Supercars – but, after growing up on two wheels, it wasn’t always his dream. Here’s the story of how it all changed.
Standing atop a Formula One podium on Grand Prix Sunday at Albert Park was Broc Feeney’s dream since he first got behind the wheel.
That it came as the victor of a Supercars Championship sprint race and not in the seat of an F1 car isn’t quite how the Gold Coaster first drew it up, but he has no regrets.
Sharing the podium with his father Paul was a welcome reward for a young driver revelling in his latest career highlight. But this is only just the beginning for a man made to achieve greatness.
“I want to be a champion in this sport,” Feeney declared in an exclusive interview with News Corp Australia.
“I haven’t put a timeline on that, but obviously I’m trying to work to become that as quickly as possible. I’m making sure I do all the work I need to be (at the front of the grid) week-in, week-out.”
Feeney’s Australian Grand Prix week ended covered in glory but it began at home on the Gold Coast, where he briefly linked up with longtime mate Jack Doohan and his close friend, Mick Schumacher.
For the uninitiated, it looked little more than a coming together of three motor-mad mates taking an opportunity to get their fuel fill on a quiet weekend at Norwell – not quite.
Three families of varying motorsport fame were brought together through second-generation sons who are crafting their own careers, one chequered flag at a time.
Doohan is the next young Aussie touted to crack the coveted F1 grid – a Formula Two world championship hopeful whose many hats include a handy gig as Alpine’s reserve driver.
His father is of course Mick Doohan, the five-time 500cc motorcycle world champion. Not a bad pedigree.
The Schumacher name needs no introduction and neither should Mick; the son of legendary seven-time F1 world champion Michael, who this year stands in the Mercedes garage as the reserve driver to Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
And then there’s Feeney. Son of motorcycle racer Paul, whose career included victories at Oran Park and Bathurst.
Born into a world of motorbikes thanks to their fathers, Feeney and Doohan were destined to follow in their footsteps until some Schumacher intervention changed everything.
Michael Schumacher’s close connection with the Doohan family led Jack to forgo bikes for go-karts; seeing his great mate behind the wheel pushed Feeney to make the same swap.
Sorry, Paul.
“Initially I wanted to race bikes,” Feeney told News Corp Australia.
“It’s funny, I saw this photo from prep the other day and it was of a note that said, ‘When I grow up I want to be a motorbike world champion’.
“But when Jack started in go-karts, I remember going to watch him and I think that’s what got me hooked. It’s pretty weird that both our parents raced motorbikes and now we’re in cars.”
For the first time in their professional careers, Feeney and Doohan got to share the track at Albert Park during the Australian Grand Prix.
Feeney in the Supercars Championship, driving for powerhouse GM homologation team Triple Eight Race Engineering, and Doohan in Formula Two as the star driver for Virtuosi Racing.
It wasn’t quite the same as their junior days, when the two raced each other on tracks at home and abroad. But fate pushed the two in different directions, and Feeney is OK with that.
“I’m just super proud of what Jack is doing,” he said.
“For sure as we were growing up we wanted to be an F1 driver, just as every go-kart kid in the world (did).
“But I got to the end of my go-karting career – we won the Australian Championships, did a bit of stuff in Europe – and realised it probably wasn’t achievable to go over and pursue it. So we focused on what we needed to do to try and make it to Supercars.
“Jack and I are both living out our dreams as professional race car drivers and we’re still only 20, so I think that’s pretty cool.
“We’ve been mates since the day we were born pretty much. Our dads were mates going way back so yeah – we grew up racing week-in, week-out with each other. To see where we’re at now is so cool.
“To see him race for the first time out here (in Melbourne) was awesome and I’m super proud of what he’s done and accomplished. He has so much more to do and I know he’ll do that.”
For Doohan the pressure is on to win that Formula Two world championship and convert it into a start on the Formula One grid.
But Feeney has already reached the pinnacle of his chosen category, and the pressure has been on him since the day he first stepped into a Supercar.
Drafted in to replace one of the sport’s all-time greats in Jamie Whincup, Feeney not only had to fill that void as a teenage rookie but he had the current best driver in the category as a teammate.
How do you replace Whincup and compete with Shane van Gisbergen as a 19-year-old first-timer?
“I know there was a lot of talk about that, but at the end of the day the expectations from people aren’t as high as what I expect from myself,” Feeney said.
“I know what I’m capable of and I know the work I’m putting in, so I didn’t worry about it at all.
“Coming in as a rookie to this team might seem like a lot (of pressure) but (2022) was a good year – now it’s on me to keep progressing and learning, and the next big thing is to step up and be a (championship) contender.”
Feeney wrote his name into the history books when he earned Holden its last-ever Supercars race victory on the streets of Adelaide last year.
His maiden Supercars win came in the final race of a rookie season that landed him sixth overall in the championship.
Not bad young man.
But his sophomore season has brought with it heightened expectations.
Triple Eight looks set to be challenged this year like never before – the arrival of Gen3 has thrown chaos into the paddock and the Red Bulls have a real fight on their hands to reclaim the crown.
The world knows what it will get out of three-time champion van Gisbergen, but what of Feeney?
Two podiums and a race win through six starts is a handy early return on investment.
Feeney knows the road to winning a Supercars championship will be a rocky one. He has to beat the cream of Australia’s driving crop to do so – including the No. 97, with whom he shares a garage.
“I know every week that I rock up at the track, to beat all the other guys I’m going to have to beat Shane, because he’s always going to be there,” Feeney said.
“He’s done such a great job the past few years – he’s done it all – and for me it’s such an awesome opportunity to be here in this team, in this environment and learn off him.
Van Gisbergen has been the perfect teammate for Feeney.
Critical but fair, he expects the No. 88 Red Bull to keep pushing and challenging him and Feeney says he’s up for the challenge.
“We’ve been working well together this year. I feel like I’ve probably closed that gap a little bit which is good, because we can work together and push each other a little more,” he said.
“He’s been really open with me, helping me out last year at a few tracks I hadn’t been to before and giving me a couple of tips. Any question I ask he’ll answer and it’s just been really good for me.
“It’s a good feeling to feel like I’m in the mix and can challenge for (race wins). But I realise if I want to win the championship, I’ve got to beat the guy next to me.”
Feeney’s victory on Grand Prix Sunday was the second of what will be many in his Supercars career.
It was just desserts for the young gun, who a day earlier wrote himself into the record books as the youngest-ever driver to take a Supercars pole position.
If his rapid rise culminates in a title this season, Feeney will also surpass Scott McLaughlin as the category’s youngest champion.
It’s a long road and many more race victories before the 20 year old can start thinking about such a feat. But stranger things have happened for those far less talented than the boy from the Gold Coast.
As for Paul, he’s probably happy his son made the swap from bikes to karts.
“I think initially he was disappointed. We spent so many years on bikes and he had a motorbike business, so when we first swapped there was definitely a bit of, ‘What are we going to do?’
“But I think he’s super glad I’m in a car now.”
As are we, Broc.
‘External s---’: What burns most for Frosty as race 600 looms
No need to remind Mark Winterbottom of his podium drought.
His youngest son, Elliot, is on the case.
This season marks two decades in Supercars for ‘Frosty’ and come the opening race in Perth next weekend, he will become just the third driver in the category’s history to notch 600 starts.
It’s an eye-watering number that underlines his incredible success and consistency in a brutal sport known for chewing up and spitting out all but the very best – and even the legends have been moved on at a whim.
Six hundred race starts is a milestone worth remembering but not one Winterbottom cares to reflect on too much, because in his mind there is still a job to do.
Mainly, making Elliot happy.
“I’ve got three boys. Two of them saw me with the championship (in 2015) and one of them wasn’t born yet – and he wants to see me win races,” Winterbottom tells News Corp.
“He’ll say to me, ‘Where’s the trophy, Dad?’
“(The outside world) can give you so much external s — t, but nothing burns more than a three-and-a-half year old telling you he wants a trophy. He’s the one that burns deepest.”
For the record it’s been almost five years since Winterbottom’s last podium and seven since he stood on the top step.
Those numbers are water off a duck’s back to the veteran, who is quick to note he has more than 140 podiums and almost 40 wins over his soon-to-be 600 starts.
But the lack of recent silverware does frustrate a man who holds great pride in his performance behind the wheel of a Supercar.
“People like to talk stats and time frames but I knew when I went to (Team 18) it was going to be tough and it was about building the team into something special,” he says.
“I race because I want to win. I’m a very proud person, I race to do well, and I’m really pissed off and gutted when I don’t get a result.”
As Winterbottom stands ready to ascend to the summit of Supercars greatness, he says nothing but a second championship would make him consider retirement even as he races through his 20th season in the sport.
“Being young and getting into the spot is what I wanted to do since I was go-karting,” he says.
“And you didn’t want to just do one race, you wanted to have a good crack at it and have a great career. (600) races is a great achievement I think, to be in this sport for a long time and be motivated.
“That’s something I’m proud of – when everyone believes in you to drive that car and put it up front, it’s a pretty special feeling to know I’ve done it for so long. Hopefully the best is still to come.
“When I do finish, I want to finish as a champion, not making up the numbers. So I still have a lot to achieve I think.”
It’s a bold statement given his recent dry streak. But the early signs are that Team 18 has the pace to challenge for podiums in 2023 and beyond that, it’s up to fate and Frosty’s fight.
After 13 years with Tickford Racing, where he won a Supercars Championship and Bathurst 1000, Winterbottom left to join Team 18 ahead of the 2019 season.
Now into its 11th year as a Supercars franchise, Charlie Schwerkolt’s team has never topped the podium.
It’s a burning desire to break new ground that keeps the team pushing forwards and Winterbottom is eager to make that dream a reality.
“When I joined Charlie I think he was 23rd on the grid. We were the last garage and it was like, ‘Right, what do we need to do? Who do we need”,” recalls Winterbottom.
“I’ve won championships, won races and won at Bathurst as well but it wasn’t with him, so he doesn’t care about what I’ve done in the past. He wants to know what’s coming in the future.
“We’re committed to being a frontrunner week-in, week-out. So that’s the motivation (to keep driving) – and I genuinely think we’re not that far away.
“If you look at the (last round in Melbourne), we were top-five in each qualifying session, it just didn’t happen for us (in the races). I think we were a lot closer than the results showed.
“But I don’t want to get just one podium, have that one for the year and finish 10th or 15th and be like, ‘Oh wow, wasn’t that a great podium?’ I want podiums every week.
“We’ve got a big cabinet at work and we need to fill it. We need more.
“Charlie does this because he’s passionate about it and he’s a very proud person. He wants to come to the track and see his cars get trophies week-in, week-out. That’s why he does this.
“They think they have the right drivers, we think we have the right team. Now it’s down to hard work.”
Winterbottom has driven with and against some of the biggest names in the sport’s history and says Marcos Ambrose is the best he has ever seen – because he took a lowly Stone Brothers Racing to the top of Supercars.
It’s something Frosty hopes to emulate with Team 18 before he finally calls it quits.
“I was the junior at Stone Brothers and he sort of took me under his wing a bit and showed me how he went about it. Seeing how he worked on and off the track, he was so very good,” he recalls.
“He worked the team to absolutely maximise them. He drove the car unbelievably and he got into his competitors’ heads. There were guys who looked unbeatable and he mentally destroyed them. In my opinion, he’s probably the best I’ve seen over the past 20 years.
“Looking at Ambrose, how he moulded that team and made Stone Brothers the most dominant team of that decade, that’s what I’m trying to do with Charlie (at Team 18).”
Just how many more races the 41-year-old has in him is unknown. When all is said and done, he could surpass Craig Lowndes’ record of 674.
If success starts to come, such a milestone will be made much easier.
For now, Frosty isn’t quite ready to reminisce. That will come when he finally decides to call it quits.
“Right now I want to win at Perth, that’s the focus,” he says.
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“I think it’s not until you’re not allowed to race in a weekend or two’s time is when you start looking back at your career, not while you’re still in the heat of battle.
“Sitting down with Tickford in 2005 and trying to sell myself as a young bloke, to give me a chance, and for them to take me on and then win a championship after going close quite a few times, it was an amazing feeling and journey I had with the team. Winning Bathurst was a huge highlight, too.
“But I think I’ll look back on it more when they don’t let me race a car anymore.”
Originally published as Supercars: Triple Eight star Broc Feeney on Formula One, Shane van Gisbergen and his title hopes
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