Cameron Waters made a press launch with a pole-to-flag Saturday win on the streets of the Gold Coast for the second 12 months in succession in Supercars.
After taking a season-high sixth pole place, Waters gained the start in his Tickford Racing Ford Mustang and constructed a lead of over 5 seconds sooner than his first pitstop. For lots of the middle stint he had team-mate Thomas Randle shut behind, sooner than he pulled away and went on to win by a convincing 9.41s.
“What a day, what a weekend so far. This issue has been an absolute rocketship all weekend,” he grinned after his fourth race win of the season.
“I purchased an excellent start, I had a reasonably cool race automotive and I merely wanted to reap the benefits of it. The automotive was bloody good and I don’t suppose we’ll be doing rather a lot to it [overnight].”
Randle drove strongly to make it a Tickford 1-2, and at one stage was correct beneath Waters’s wing, sooner than settling once more to ensure his second podium finish of the season.
“What a race! It was pretty crazy down at Flip 1 nonetheless I made it by way of,” talked about Randle after his crew’s first 1-2 finish end result since 2017.
“I was attempting to not look throughout the mirrors, it [the gap to Broc Feeney] was flickering after which going once more up. The pitstops had been great.”
Triple Eight’s Feeney, who started fourth, was aided by a extremely fast first pitstop and who, inevitably, dropped once more to eighth after a primarily longer second stop, nonetheless nonetheless emerged as among the best of the Chevrolet Camaros. He snatched third place off Matt Payne with 10 laps remaining, after which chased Randle sooner than settling for third.
In Fourth place obtained right here Matt Payne, who started from the fifth row after he overshot a nook all through his shootout lap. The Grove Racing Ford driver consolidated early and as quickly as he purchased into clear air, he was ready to set quick lap events.
Current from his Bathurst win, Brodie Kostecki gave Erebus Motorsport fifth place after starting from tenth on the grid after triggering a kerb sensor on his excessive 10 shootout lap. Sixth was David Reynolds, a deserved reward for the Team18 squad which primarily constructed a model new Chevrolet after Reynolds’s vital Bathurst qualifying crash.
Behind Reynolds in seventh was Triple Eight’s Will Brown. The championship chief started from eleventh on the grid after crashing out of the provisional qualifying session and, after swift repairs, understandably drove a circumspect race to take seventh.
Andre Heimgartner (Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet) was eighth ahead of Richie Stanaway, who started from the doorway row throughout the Grove Racing Ford and ran in second place throughout the early laps, sooner than dropping once more.
The one driver who may need challenged Waters for the win was Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert, who battled with a gearshift sensor draw back which negated his flat-shift perform. All through every his gasoline stops it moreover slowed his Ford virtually to strolling tempo throughout the pitlane, costing him spherical 5 seconds in his first stop and 20 in his second. His consolation prize was tenth place.
One among many quickest of the Chevrolets and one who would possibly want challenged for a podium was PremiAir Racing Camaro driver James Golding, who snatched third place from Stanaway on lap 11 and chased after the Fords. Nonetheless a left-rear wheel nut purchased caught at his first pitstop, dropping him out of the best 20. By the highest of the race he recovered barely nonetheless solely to sixteenth place.
The outcomes indicate that Brown, who carried a 204 championship degree lead over Feeney into the race, observed his profit decreased to 171 elements, 2634 to 2463. Mostert stays third on 2391 ahead of Waters (2224), Mayne (1779) and Golding (1775).
Sunday’s schedule will see the Supercars once more on the 3km highway circuit at 10:10am native time for qualifying, for the best 10 shootout at 12:35pm and on the grid for the twenty second race of the season over 85 laps at 3:15pm.
