Supercars: Cameron Waters takes crucial momentum from third win of the season in Tasmania
Tickford Racing’s Cameron Waters claimed a crucial win in an eventful Tasmanian SuperSprint to take much needed momentum into the Supercars endurance season.
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Ford star Cam Waters claims he still has a “little finger” in the championship fight as he takes crucial momentum into the Supercars endurance season after securing his third victory of the year when he beat title leader Will Brown to take a drama-filled finale in Tasmania.
After stealing the lead from his pole sitting Tickford Racing teammate Thomas Randle on the opening lap, Waters survived two safety car restarts and drama behind him to put his Mustang on top in the second leg of the SuperSprint at Symmons Plains.
Waters’ win added to his victories in Perth and Townsville earlier this year to taste his first success in Tasmania as he finished six seconds clear of Brown.
But there was heartbreak for his Tickford teammate Randle, who copped a late penalty for making contact with Broc Feeney to dash his podium hopes, which sparked post-race drama with Triple Eight.
Brad Jones Racing’s Bryce Fullwood took advantage of the late drama to claim his second career podium, finishing third in his best result since 2020.
For Brown, it was a timely bounce back after he had his championship lead eroded by Ford rival Chaz Mostert on Saturday when he salvaged seventh after a tough qualifying result.
After qualifying 11th, Mostert staged an impressive recovery of his own to finish fourth.
Saturday winner Nick Percat also produced a stunning recovery drive to finish seventh after starting last on the grid after a qualifying shocker.
Waters was thrilled to bag his result leading into two of the biggest races of the season, but felt gutted for his teammate Randle after the pair had earlier secured a Tickford front-row lock-out.
Waters sits fourth in the driver standings, but has cut his margin to third-placed Feeney and said his championship bid still had a pulse.
“I have probably got my fingertips and now my little finger on it (title chase) as well, so I think it is getting closer, but there is still a long way to go,” Waters said.
“There is still a lot of racing to be played for, obviously the enduros, two big races and we usually go pretty strong there so let’s see where we end up.
“It’s so important (this result), leading into the enduros as well. We haven’t been good on the supersoft (tyres) and this weekend we have been fast all the time and had good race pace.
“(Saturday) we didn’t really maximise or convert it into a result, but it’s nice to bounce back today and get the result that we deserve, get some good points and a bit more momentum going into the enduros.”
Brown kept alive his record of finishing on the podium every round this season and said felt he would now carry more confidence into the endurance races after his result in Tasmania.
His gap over Mostert had closed to 63 points on Saturday, but the Red Bull driver has extended that out to 81 after his Sunday podium.
“It’s good to get back on the podium, we’ve been on the podium nearly every round this year so far so that has been really positive,” Brown said.
“(Saturday) was really unfortunate with the red flag, but we really wanted to turn it around today. I feel like we have been in a little bit of a slump, but it’s also just been due to unfortunate circumstances.
“We really wanted a strong day today to feel like we bounced back …. I definitely feel more confident going into the enduros after getting another podium.”
After fighting with Brown for second position with 10 laps to go, Randle’s hopes of challenging for a podium were dashed after he was hit with a 15-second time penalty for turning Feeney at the hairpin with five to go, which sent the Triple Eight young gun tumbling down the order to 15th.
A gutted Randle sat in his car with his head in his hands after the race and went to the Triple Eight garage to apologise to Feeney, but appeared to be denied entry by team manager Mark Dutton.
“I am just gutted with my mistake (going) into turn four with five to go, that was my fault and I have got no one else to blame but myself,” said Randle, who ended up 18th.
“I will be kicking myself over that one and it’s a real shame because we had a really good chance to capitalise on some good points.
“I just wanted to apologise to Broc … that’s all you can do is apologise and move on.”
Triple Eight technical director Jeromy Moore explained emotions had been running high post-race for the team.
“In the heat of the moment, emotions are running high. We’ll go back and see what actually transpired whether it was a pure mistake or wherever,” Moore said.
“For sure, we get upset when we lose a two-three, regardless of the scenario.
“At the end of the day, we got taken out, we’re not happy about that, so that’s natural I think.”
Race control kept busy during the race with defending champion Brodie Kostecki copping three infringements - a 15-second penalty for turning David Reynolds’ incident and two drive-through penalties for pit lane speeding and then an unsafe release in the pits.
The Supercars field now heads into its biggest races of the year with the endurance season kicking off at the Sandown 500 next month before the Bathurst 1000.
Qualifying ‘gamesmanship’ sees Mosert miss top 10
Ford’s championship challenger Chaz Mostert has slammed the qualifying “gamesmanship” on track after missing out on a starting position in the top-10 for Sunday’s second leg at the Tasmania SuperSprint as Thomas Randle claimed pole.
As Randle secured a front-row lock-out for Tickford Racing for the second 55-lap battle at Symmons Plains, Mostert will be forced to start from 11th on the grid after getting knocked out of Q2 in the three-part qualifying session.
The Walkinshaw Andretti United star was not the only big qualifying casualty after Saturday’s race winner Nick Percat did not make it out of Q1 and will start from last on the grid.
Randle claimed his first pole position of the year ahead of teammate Cam Waters with David Reynolds, title-leader Will Brown and Jack Le Brocq rounding out the top five
Mostert blamed the cat and mouse tactics employed at the start of the final run late in Q2 - drivers going slow at the front of the train - as “pretty crap” and costing him a place in the top 10.
“There was a lot of gamesmanship in that one, very interesting,” Mostert said.
“It’s kind of so dangerous, if someone else was out of sequence and you’re around on a goat track here, no one went at the go-point.
“It’s not like we could, even in the pack there, decide to pass those guys because to be honest they’re probably not looking in the mirror anyway, they are just going at 30 km/h.
“I’m more worried if someone comes at the back of the train and finds someone if they’re out of sequence, I think it’s pretty crap.”
Randle relished the second pole position of his career, labelling it redemption for his dramatic run off the track in the second part of yesterday’s qualifying.
“I’ve got to thank the whole team at Tickford Racing …. it’s such an awesome reward and I feel like it’s a bit of redemption after yesterday’s off,” Randle said.
“Every part then we were pretty strong and just managed to nail the lap.
“There was a lot of sheep stations out there, everyone trying to get a tow. But the car was a jet, so just so cool to get a Tickford front row lock-out.
“It’s great for the team … it’s good that we’ve got both our cars up here, so we can potentially each try something different (strategy) and look after each other.”
After claiming his second win of the year on Saturday for Matt Stone Racing, Percat was not impressed after he became an early qualifying casualty.
“It was very, very annoying. I think we had a car for pole, too,” Percat said.
“We ran some used tyres and hoped to sneak through on that.”
Percat thrives to hold off Mostert, Feeney, in Tassie thrilling opener
Nick Percat has upstaged the championship frontrunners to claim his second win of the season in the opening race at the Tasmania SuperSprint as title-leader Will Brown lost ground at the top of the standings.
Cashing in on some impressive race strategy from his team Matt Stone Racing, Percat held off a fast-finishing Chaz Mostert in the 55-lap battle at Symmons Plains to add to his win at Albert Park earlier this year.
Triple Eight pole sitter Broc Feeney had looked on target to take his sixth win for the year after leading for the first half of the race and emerging in front after his compulsory pit stop.
But Percat overcut Feeney and the lead group after an impressive strategy and pit stop from MSR to emerge with the lead with 25 laps to go and held on for his first win in Tasmania.
Mostert (Walkinshaw Andretti United) mowed down Feeney to take second position in a boost to his championship hunt, while the Red Bull driver hung on for third.
Championship leader Brown was able to salvage seventh position after being forced to start mid-pack when he earlier failed to progress past Q2 after getting caught out by a red flag, but his advantage at the top of the standings was eroded.
Brown had held a 105-point lead over Ford rival and second-placed Mostert, but that has now been cut to 63 points.
.@NickPercat brings home @MSR_Supercars' first-ever win in Tasmania âš”ï¸
— Supercars (@supercars) August 17, 2024
He pulls of a strategy masterclass to be your @RepcoAustralia Race Winner at the NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint! #RepcoSC#Supercarspic.twitter.com/3Z3Ok7faPd
But it was Percat and MSR celebrating with the 2011 Bathurst winner paying tribute to his team’s strategy and slick work in the pits.
“Everyone is over the moon, when you can put it up the front and execute a pit stop like they did and the strategy, it’s a big team effort,” Percat said.
“When I came to the lane and realised how fast the stop was, I went ‘We’re going to come out in the lead here’ because that was seriously quick.
“So credit to them because they got me the track position and effectively the race win because I could then manage what I was doing from there.
“I thought I had a bit more speed than Cam and Broc in the first stint, I was just trying to keep a bit of fresh air on the front tyre and wait for them to pit and then use the speed we had.
“They pitted and I went as quick as I could on that one extra lap and that got us the gap and then obviously an amazing pit stop let us come out in front.”
Percat has enjoyed an upswing in form after joining MSR after two difficult years at WAU and recently extended his contract with the squad until the end of 2027.
After finishing 20th in last year’s championship, Percat now sits sixth in this year’s standings.
“It’s a pretty special team to be involved with,” Percat said.
“I have got so much confidence in what they’re doing and they’ve got that belief in me.”
PERCAT HOLDS ON!
— Supercars (@supercars) August 17, 2024
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Coming off back-to-back wins in Sydney, Mostert is now stepping up his title hunt at the right time of the year as the Supercars championship approaches the business end of the campaign.
The WAU star’s now had five straight podiums and said the result would provide confidence heading into the critical endurance season.
“I was pretty stoked, our team did a fantastic job, credit to our team as well, a different strategy than the front guys and it probably complemented our car a bit better,” Mostert said.
“Today obviously went well for us, it didn’t go good for the other guys (Brown) with qualifying and stuff like that.
“For us, we will just focus on what we do and we’ll let everything else try and pan out.
“We have just got to get through tomorrow and get into the enduro season. It’s nice, today’s result will give us a lot of confidence. Last time we were on this tyre, we were nowhere.”
Having earlier taken his fourth pole of the year, bouncing back from a tough round in Sydney, Feeney was disappointed not to come away with the win after leading the race early.
But he did manage to cut his own gap to Brown in the championship standings to 120 points.
“I’m obviously happy to be on the podium, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit disappointed with coming third today,” Feeney said.
“Obviously running up front early on and got to build a bit of a lead to Cam (Waters) and then caught a little bit of chaos before we pitted.
“But these guys did a great job today and so did their team. Nick has been driving awesome all weekend.
“We have still got a really fast car .. but overall I’ve got to be happy with pole position and a trophy considering where we have been the last couple of rounds.”
Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters and defending champion Brodie Kostecki rounded out the top five.
There is another 55-lap race at Symmons Plains on Sunday before the Supercars season heats up with the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000.
SUPERCARS RACE RESULTS
Tasmania SuperSprint, Race 17
1. Nick Percat (Matt Stone Racing)
2. Chaz Mostert (Walkinshaw Andretti United)
3. Broc Feeney (Triple Eight)
4. Cam Waters (Tickford Racing)
5. Brodie Kostecki (Erebus Motorsport)
SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1. Will Brown 1842
2. Chaz Mostert 1779
3. Broc Feeney 1722
4. Cam Waters 1480
5. Matt Payne 1377
FEENEY CLINCHES POLE
Triple Eight young gun Broc Feeney has the chance to invigorate his championship chase after claiming pole for the opening race at the Tasmania SuperSprint at Symmons Plains, while his title-leading teammate Will Brown will have to fight from mid-pack.
After a tough round at Sydney Motorsport Park last outing, Feeney secured his fourth pole for the year after edging out Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters with his 50.988sec qualifying lap.
Defending champion Brodie Kostecki was third fastest, with Nick Percat and Ford’s top championship challenger Chaz Mostert rounding out the top five.
But title-leader Brown will start from 15th for the first of two 55-lap races this weekend after his flying lap late in the second of the three-part qualifying session was denied by a red flag when Thomas Randle spun off the track.
Feeney lost his second position in the championship standings to Mostert in the last round in Sydney after he finished ninth and 11th in the two races.
Starting ahead of the two lead championship contenders, Feeney said he now needed to capitalise on his position.
“We’ve had a fast car today, we were probably a little bit off yesterday so to be real quick in the wet and then convert that to a pole, I’m obviously pretty pumped,” Feeney said.
“I felt over the whole session I felt really strong, especially under brakes. I made a couple of little mistakes on that lap, so I didn’t know if it was going to be enough.
“Obviously it was a shame to see what happened to Will, get caught out by the red flag, he’s been super quick. But I’ve got to capitalise on these days, so I’m stoked to convert to pole and we’ll see what we can do this afternoon.”
NAIL BITTER 🤯
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Brown, who holds a 105-point lead over Mostert in the championship, hoped he would be able to pick his way through the field to still “bank some points”.
“It’s pretty disappointing, we were travelling really well, but that happens, red flags,” said Brown, who won the opening race at Symmons Plains last year.
“So I didn’t get a lap in there at the end, we would have been in the top-10 but that’s life.
“We’ll just have to do a good job this arvo and bank some points.
“There’s only one way to attack it, you just go out there and see what happens on the other side … hopefully we’ve got a fast car and we can just pick through them.
Fastest in opening practice on Friday, Team 18’s David Reynolds will start from 11th for the opening sprint race.
Grove Racing’s Matt Payne and Dick Johnson Racing veteran Will Davison were two big early casualties, failing to progress past Q1 and will start from 23rd and 24th on the grid.
Supercars veteran fastest at Tassie practice, chases season turnaround
Team 18’s David Reynolds is targeting a bounce back from recent “dismal” form at what he predicts will be a Camaro-friendly circuit after he upstaged the title frontrunners to lead a Chevrolet-dominated top-10 in practice for the Tasmania SuperSprint.
The 2017 Bathurst 1000 winner recovered from early engine problems to record the fastest time in the opening hour-long practice session as Camaros filled the top nine spots when cars hit the track for the first time on Friday at Symmons Plains.
Reynolds topped the Supercars field ahead of PremiAir Racing’s James Golding and Erebus Motorsport’s Jack LeBrocq.
Cameron Hill and Reynolds’ Team 18 teammate Mark Winterbottom rounded out the top five, while Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters (10th) was the only Ford driver inside the top 10.
Triple Eight young gun Broc Feeney was the best placed of the top-three title contenders in eighth, just ahead of teammate Will Brown, while Ford’s top championship hope Chaz Mostert was 14th.
After back-to-back top-10 results to start the season, Reynolds has battled in the last three rounds and has not finished inside the 10 since the opening race in Darwin.
He has finished 22nd and 17th twice in his last three starts.
But Reynolds is hoping for a turnaround in form in Tasmania, where he will be targeting a first podium for season 2024.
“Right now everyone is happy, everyone put a lot of work in over the last few weeks and we need a good result because the last few rounds have been pretty dismal for us,” Reynolds said.
David Reynolds with 2 push laps to take top spot and the two fastest laps of the session!
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“I always had this theory that we were pretty good on the super soft tyre and average on just the normal soft tyre, we’ll see what happens when the weekend pans out.
“We started the year pretty strong and we weren’t the fastest car, but we were sort of there or thereabouts and ever since then we have been playing around with the car a bit too much and got lost.
“Now we are back to a more standard-style set-up for me, which has been working really well in the past and obviously this track must suit our car and our set-up, so the last couple of rounds we have been at, it hasn’t.”
Reynolds struggled with an engine issue early in the session, but was able to recover quickly from the time lost on track.
“We rolled out, had a bit of an engine misfire so when I plucked sixth gear, the engine would just die, so we probably spent 10, 12, 15 minutes in the pits trying to fix it,” Reynolds said.
“They replaced the ECU (electronic control unit) and chucked me out and that fixed it.
“We had to miss a few of our runs, but that was all good because I rolled out and my car was on pace.”
Reynolds predicted the Symmons Plains’ circuit would be a strong one for the Camaros and offered his theory on why different tracks were favouring the different makes.
“I knew coming here that it was going to favour the Camaro,” Reynolds said.
“My theory is, and it might be slightly different to everyone else’s …. the Ford might have a little bit more aero, which means they might have a bit more drag, so (at) the aerodynamic tracks they might go better like last round, Townsville that sort of stuff.
“This is a slippery track and it kind of suits us and so far I’m right. This is only practice and we don’t know who has run what tyres and what not.
“That’s just my theory, I’m probably wrong, we will find out on Sunday.”
Championship leader Brown, who holds a 105-point lead over Mostert in the standings, said his car should be a top-three car and he needed to do a “better job” on Saturday.
“We were trending really well at the start of practice and had really good pace sitting in P1 when we put our tyres on at the end, but we didn’t get a big of a gain and ended up in ninth,” Brown said.
“I didn’t do the best lap, I think that our car’s a lot better than that, we could be a top-three car. I think it shows because out customer cars are up the front.
“Personally, I’ve got to do a better job tomorrow.”
Golding was happy with his early practice pace after the team’s work in the mid-season break.
“We have been doing a lot of work between races … it’s starting to come together for us,” Golding said.
“We got through everything we wanted to and found a good gauge of where we needed everything to sit, which is what we rolled out with at the end and seemed pretty strong.”
The Supercars drivers have another practice session, qualifying and the first of two 55-lap races on Saturday.
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Originally published as Supercars: Cameron Waters takes crucial momentum from third win of the season in Tasmania
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