Feeney and Jones star on opening day of the Grand Prix™

In sunny but slightly cool conditions, it was a day for the support race categories to shine, in front of the second-biggest Thursday audience since the event arrived at Albert Park in 1996.

Supercars were the headline act on a huge Thursday, with two Practice sessions, two Qualifying sessions and a 19-lap race that closed out the track action. Triple 8 locked out the front row and polesitter Broc Feeney sped away, the only challenge to his win being three ducks that decided to cross the track on lap 4. But a mid-race Safety Car put teammate Will Brown right on his tail, and at the restart they kept formation to take a 1-2 finish.

Not far behind Matt Stone Racing’s Cameron Hill took a career-best third place, clear of the first Ford Mustang driver, Brodie Kostecki (Dick Johnson Racing). He only just held out Ryan Wood, who started 17th in Walkinshaw Andretti United Ford, and Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters. The points leader dropped to last on the opening lap but drove a brilliant race the storm to sixth place, taking the Fastest Lap along the way to maintain his championship points lead over Brown, 364-324.

In Porsche Carrera Cup, in the first of three races, previous Albert Park winner Harri Jones was the king of Qualifying, taking pole position for Jones Motorsport from Jackson Walls and Bayley Hall. But the challenge Jones faced when the opening race got underway came from a visiting driver, Alessandro Ghiretti. In his first appearance down under the current Carrera Cup Asia and France Champion used a well-timed Safety Car to erase a 3-second lead to close onto Jones’s tail, only for another Safety Car to intervene, leaving the drivers with a one-lap dash to the chequered flag.

Friday Park Pass tickets are $90 for the FORMULA 1 LOUIS VUITTON AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 2025!

Ghiretti surprised the long-time race leader at the first corner but officials determined that the Frenchman had illegally weaved after the Safety Car pulled off, earning him a five-second time penalty, handing Jones the win. The penalty dropped Ghiretti to eighth, so Hall took second ahead of Dylan O’Keeffe (RAM Motorsport). In the Pro-Am class Sam Shahin claimed yet another win, ahead of Adrian Flack, who recovered after being spun and dropping to last on the opening lap.