REVEALED: Kostecki nabs pole after delay feeney woes persist

REVEALED: Kostecki nabs pole after delay feeney woes persist | Rare Historical Photos

Cam Waters heads into the weekend full of confidence after winning race one of the Townsville 500. (PR IMAGE PHOTO)

Broc Feeney has lost the lead in the Supercars championship standings after finishing 10th in the opening race in Townsville.

Going into the 35-lap 100km sprint race at the Reid Street Park Circuit on Friday leading the championship by just 15 points, Feeney knew he had to produce a big performance to stave off Grove Racing's Matt Payne.

Starting from 16th after his worst Townsville qualifying session certainly didn't help the Triple Eight Race Engineering driver.

Broc Feeney. — Broc Feeney endured a difficult opening day of racing in north Queensland. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)

Considering Feeney went into the Darwin Triple Crown last round leading by 90 points, it's a significant fall from grace for the 23-year-old as he looks to win the championship after spinning out in last season's grand final.

Payne now leads by 11 points after finishing third despite battling engine issues in Friday's sprint race.

"We've shown our consistency over the year, and we've had a lot of podiums, probably haven't had as many wins as I would like," Payne said.

"It's good to finally get on the other side of it, but the championship is still a long way away."

Matt Payne has taken over top spot on the Supercars championship standings. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)

Cam Waters claimed a second win of the season and fourth victory in Townsville after he finished 0.2 seconds ahead of hard-chasing pole-sitter Brodie Kostecki on Friday.

It continues the Tickford Racing driver's hot form after winning the Triple Crown last round.

Victory gives Waters the equal third most Townsville 500 race wins, alongside Supercars great Scott McLaughlin.

Waters drove an almost perfect race after capitalising on Kostecki's slow start, which the Dick Johnson Racing star conceded was a major turning point.

Cool, Cam and collected: Cam Waters claimed victory in the first race of the Townsville 500. (PR IMAGE PHOTO)

The 28-year-old Kostecki switched gears rapidly to get back into the mix, before taking his sole pit stop on lap 24 as the last driver.

But he couldn't capitalise on the stop, with Waters and Payne streaking past the Dick Johnson Racing driver.

Kostecki continued to press and on lap 34 overtook Payne on the inside lane to draw closer to Waters, but the Tickford Racing star held his nerve to emerge victorious, before producing a rousing burnout.

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"I didn't do one (burnout) in Darwin, so I was like I've got to do one today. I did ask just to be polite, but I would have just said I didn't have a radio," Waters said with a smirk.

"It's great to go to two completely different tracks and be competitive.

"It shows that all the hard work through the start of the year has kind of paid off."

Last year's champion Chaz Mostert finished fifth, with Waters' teammate Thomas Randle sixth, while Triple Eight's Will Brown climbed 12 spots to finish seventh.