Supercars news 2024: Red Bull edge closer to championship despite narrow Bathurst loss

Despite missing out on winning the biggest race on the Supercars calendar, Red Bull racing remain in pole position to claim the grandest prize in the sport after finishing second and third at Bathurst.

Red Bull might have missed out on winning the biggest race on the Australian motor racing calendar this year but their young gun drivers remain right on track to claim the grandest prize in Supercars after finishing second and third in Sunday’s Bathurst 1000.

Just 21, Broc Feeney sealed his first podium finish at Mount Panorama when he charged home late to take the runner-up spot, 1.3 seconds behind Brodie Kostecki, while his Red Bull team mate Will Brown crossed the line third to join him at the presentation.

Although it was a case of close but not close enough in their bid to win Australia’s favourite motor race, the results tightened Red Bull’s stranglehold on the 2024 Supercars championship.

With just two rounds remaining - at the Gold Coast and Adelaide - Brown and Feeney currently sit first and second in the title race.

With a maximum of 600 points up for grabs in the concluding rounds, Brown leads with 2538 points, 204 clear of Feeney, who has 2334.

Jamie Whincup and Broc Feeney finished second in the Bathurst 1000. Picture: Getty Images

The closest threat to the Red Bulls is Chaz Mostert, who fell 225 points behind Brown after finishing fifth at Bathurst.

The margin might have been even greater if Feeney had found a way to get past Kostecki but said there was nothing more he could do.

“It was crazy the pace that we had to manage at the end of the race but both of us, we were just driving our hearts out there as much as we could,” he said.

“Literally by the end of the race, my tyres had nothing left. I had a few big moments coming out of turn two and it was just going back and forth but Brodie had great pace at the end of the race and honestly there was nothing to gain, I drove my hardest out there.”

Brown said it was still too early to think about clinching the championship.

Red Bull is on track to claim the grandest prize in Supercars. Picture: Getty Images

“We said that after Bathurst we’d start looking at the championship but I still want to win races,” he said.

“We’ve got Gold Coast and Adelaide coming up, two great events. I don’t want to run around and just try and get points because that’s generally how you lose championships.

“We’ll race as hard as we can at those events and see what happens.”

Feeney’s co-driver Jamie Whincup, a four-time Bathurst winner and now four-time runner-up, said the best team won.

“Everyone was absolutely on the limit and did a solid job. There were no brain fades or silly mistakes,” Whincup said.

“Everyone brought their A game, the conditions were good and it was a dead set serious race until the end.”

Originally published as Supercars news 2024: Red Bull edge closer to championship despite narrow Bathurst loss