Supercars New Zealand: Heimgartner splashes to Taupo opener victory

The Auckland-born driver took the lead after the first of two pit cycles on a wet 3.3km Taupo International Motorsport Park.

Heimgartner took advantage of Brad Jones Racing's ace pitcrew, the nearly perennial winner of Supercars’ teams pitstop ratings, to jump past early leader Will Brown (Triple Eight Chevrolet), and held off Chaz Mostert for most of the first half of the race.

When Mostert fell from contention when a right-rear wheel came adrift immediately after his second stop, Heimgartner motored home to take a 1.01s victory.

“I am speechless,” said Heimgartner, whose results in the last five races have been 18th, 18th, 14th, 20th and 17th.

“I was hoping to drive a bit cooler but he [Mostert] was throwing caution to the wind. It was quite slippery, especially when we went out on the new tyres. I always love the wet, it’s always good fun!”

Second and third were Dick Johnson’s two drivers Will Davison and Anton de Pasquale, and like Heimgartner it was an eye-opening reversal of form after both of their Ford Mustangs struggled for speed at the previous round at Albert Park.

Chaz Mostert, Walkinshaw Andretti United Ford Mustang GT (Photo by: Edge Photographics)

Fourth place was impressive rookie Ryan Wood, as the 20-year-old New Zealander stayed clear of a number of early incidents and was dazzling in the changeable conditions to give Walkinshaw Andretti United a reward for showing faith in such a young driver.

Brown, who brought a 17-point championship points lead to New Zealand, finished fifth on the road but ninth in the overall results, after picking up a penalty from an incident at the start of the race after one of his wheelnuts rolled across the pitlane.

Jack Le Brocq flew the flag for Erebus Motorsport with a promoted fifth place after a heady drive from 16th on the grid, though it was a low-key return to Supercars for his team-mate Brodie Kostecki.

After starting mid-pack the 2023 champion finished in 16th place, after picking up a 15-second time penalty for carting James Courtney off the circuit on lap 15.

Richie Stanaway went from 23rd to sixth, having been up and down the field, giving the soaked local fans three of their countrymen in the top six. James Golding (PremiAir Racing Chevrolet) and polesitter Cam Waters (Tickford Ford) were next, Waters making ground after being caught up in a startline incident, as Brown and Jaxon Evans rounded out the top 10.

The net result means that Brown (659) has extended his points lead over Feeney (600), with Mostert third on 517. With his strong drive Stanaway jumps to fourth on 454 ahead of Nick Percat.

A second 60-lap race is set for Sunday at 3:05pm local time.

Supercars New Zealand - Race 1 results

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver		Car	Laps	Time	Interval	Retirement	Points
1	A. Heimgartner R&J Batteries Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	60	-			150
2	W. Davison Dick Johnson Racing		Ford Mustang GT	60	+1.101 1.1012	1.101		138
3	A. De Pasquale Dick Johnson Racing		Ford Mustang GT	60	+2.564 2.5641	1.463		129
4	R. Wood Mobil 1 Truck Assist Racing		Ford Mustang GT	60	+3.932 3.9318	1.368		120
5	J. Le Brocq Erebus Motorsport Penrite		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	60	+21.254 21.2535	17.322		111
6	R. Stanaway Penrite Racing		Ford Mustang GT	60	+23.134 23.1340	1.881		102
7	J. Golding PremiAir Nulon Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	60	+26.341 26.3405	3.207		96
8	C. Waters Monster Castrol Racing		Ford Mustang GT	60	+30.545 30.5452	4.205		90
9	W. Brown Red Bull Ampol Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	60	+30.935 30.9350	0.390		84
10	J. Evans SCT Motorsport		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	60	+35.546 35.5458	4.611		78
11	M. Winterbottom DEWALT Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	60	+36.952 36.9515	1.406		72
12	T. Randle Monster Castrol Racing		Ford Mustang GT	60	+39.317 39.3165	2.365		69
13	M. Payne Penrite Racing		Ford Mustang GT	60	+42.248 42.2476	2.931		66
14	B. Kostecki Erebus Motorsport Penrite		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	60	+46.822 46.8215	4.574		63
15	A. Love Brad Jones Racing		Ford Mustang GT	60	+49.169 49.1686	2.347		60
16	D. Reynolds Tradie Beer Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	60	+49.489 49.4887	0.320		57
17	J. Courtney Snowy River Racing		Ford Mustang GT	60	+57.761 57.7610	8.272		54
18	M. Jones Pizza Hut Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	60	+1'06.955 1'06.9547	9.194		51
19	N. Percat Bendix Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	60	+1'08.585 1'08.5850	1.630		48
20	C. Hill Tyrepower Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	60	+1'08.794 1'08.7944	0.209		45
21	B. Feeney Red Bull Ampol Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	60	+1'18.266 1'18.2664	9.472		42
22	C. Mostert Mobil 1 Optus Racing		Ford Mustang GT	59	1 lap			39
	B. Fullwood Middy's Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	7			Retirement
	T. Slade PremiAir Nulon Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	0			Retirement
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