Cam Waters led a Ford Mustang parade to win the first of three Supercars races on the Reid Park street circuit in Townsville, Queensland.
Waters and Dick Johnson Racing’s Brodie Kostecki went into the final tour of the 35-lap race nose-to-tail but Kostecki, who had been on a charge through the field in the late laps, fell just short of the win.
Kostecki started from pole for the fifth time this season but dropped places at the start, with Waters and Matt Payne (Grove Racing) passing him immediately. But Kostecki quickly reclaimed his speed and settled into second behind Waters before the pitstop cycle commenced.
Waters came into the pits on lap 18 but Kostecki stayed out for another six laps. The net result was that Waters stretched his lead, but it was Payne in second when Kostecki resumed.
The DJR Mustang, in a special yellow livery for the weekend, closed while he found a way around Payne, Waters prevailed by 0.200s. “Brodie got a bad one [start] but I was pretty keen to get to Turn 2 first,” he said. “I was a little bit shocked to get P1.
“I just tried to manage that whole last thing, I knew he was behind me and I was just managing that lap. But I am glad there was not one more lap. It’s nice to be at the pointy end.”
Kostecki reported that he made the call to pit after he watched Waters come into the pit lane.
“[It was] a call from me,” he said. “I thought [when] Cam had pitted, I did not want to pit behind Cam. We are looking pretty good for tomorrow. I thought I have a big dive down the last corner, but Cam is a pretty smart racer.”
After his 11th podium of the season, Payne was very happy, particularly considering that not all was right with his car.
“I picked up a bit of a vibration early on,” he said. “It didn’t get any worse and I managed to finish. We need a little bit more [speed]. I was really hoping he [Kostecki] had a lap or two more [to pressure Waters], it would have been a good battle. Cool strategy, it turned out to be really close.
“I knew starting up the front we had a good chance of converting it into some good points.”
Payne’s team-mate Kai Allen took fourth after ceding a position to him after their respective pit stops, while Chaz Mostert took fifth.
The Walkinshaw TWG Supra had a minor engine issue during qualifying, but it was clearly the fastest of the Toyotas and he jumped to second on the opening lap before losing places.
Thomas Randle took sixth for Tickford, an especially impressive result given that he lost half of his practice session after a technical problem left him on the sidelines. With a place in the all-important championship top 10 in the balance, Randle drove a clever race and stayed out of trouble for all 35 laps.
If that was a strong drive, so was what came next. Both Triple Eight drivers had tough Fridays. Broc Feeney qualified 16th and Will Brown was 19th, the first time in three years in which the top 15 grid spots have not featured at least one of the team’s cars.
Brown’s Mustang had a wheel come loose late in qualifying and Feeney simply lacked his trademark one-lap speed. Once the race started though, Brown put all that behind him to charge through to seventh, reminding everyone why he has been one of the category’s best overtakers.
Feeney made it to 10th, at one stage hung wide on a corner, from where he watched Brown spear past two cars – including Feeney’s – at once.
Feeney carried a 15-point lead coming into the weekend, but the results have handed Payne the series lead and Grove – which claimed the teams’ points lead and with it, prime position in the pit lane last time out in Darwin – much to fight for.
Two more 200km races, one each on Saturday and Sunday, will complete Supercars’ mid-winter northern swing.
