Cameron Waters claims win in first Supercars race of the season
Tickford Racing star Cam Waters has fired the season-opening salvo for Ford after he converted his blistering qualifying pace to blitz the first race of the Supercars season.
Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Tickford Racing star Cam Waters has fired the season-opening salvo for Ford after he converted his blistering qualifying pace to blitz the first race of the Supercars season at Sydney Motorsport Park.
After scorching the field in qualifying earlier to take the first pole position of the year, Waters dominated the race to finish 17 seconds ahead of Ford and dual Bathurst 1000 winner Chaz Mostert to get his 2025 campaign off to the perfect start.
Waters’ Tickford Racing teammate Thomas Randle edged past Grove Racing young gun Matt Payne on the penultimate lap to complete an all-Ford podium on Friday night.
Defending Supercars champion Will Brown had to fight his way through the field to finish fifth after the Triple Eight star was forced to start his title defence from 11th on the grid following an error in qualifying.
And there was early pain for his teammate and championship runner-up Broc Feeney when his race hopes were dashed after he suffered a left rear puncture on lap 12 when he was sitting second behind Waters, finishing the race in 14th position.
Mostert grabbed second position behind Waters after the Walkinshaw Andretti United star edged past Payne with three laps to go.
Last year’s pole award winner, Waters has established himself as the qualifying king in the field, but is still chasing a maiden Supercars crown.
The 30-year-old has twice been a runner-up in the championship - in 2020 and 2022 - and finished fourth behind the Red Bull pair and Mostert last year.
One of the last to pit during the 26-lap sprint race, Waters admitted he was surprised with the pace that his Mustang had shown during the race and predicted there was still more the team could extract.
“I was pretty happy that I won the start and it was so fast out there so massive thank you to my whole team …. I couldn’t be happier, ” Waters said.
“The morale at Tickford is so good at the moment … Tommy (Randle) and I work so well together and we know that we have got fast cars.
“We are all pretty pumped. It’s awesome to go racing and get a win and for Randle to be on the podium, it’s awesome for the (No.) 55 car.
“I didn’t think it (my car) was that fast. I was pleasantly surprised. Obviously the strategy got me a little bit as well, being able to go longer than everyone else.
“It sets up the whole weekend really well, it sets up the whole year and there is speed in the Mustang still, we can always find a little bit more, but I’m pretty wrapt with how it is.”
The win gives Waters an early five-point championship lead over Mostert in the Sprint Cup as part of a revamped 2025 championship.
Mostert, also in pursuit of his first Supercars title, made up six positions to finish second after starting the race from eighth on the grid.
“Just great to come from eighth, I didn’t expect it,” Mostert said.
“So anytime you get to spray champagne and get a trophy, standing next to Cam although I wish he was the next step down, (it) is always good, but just happy to start the year.
“It’s awesome to start the weekend like this.”
Bathurst 1000 champion Brodie Kostecki finished sixth in his first race with his new team Dick Johnson Racing, rubbing panels with Payne as they battled for position at the first turn.
Kostecki was one of five Mustangs in the top six.
After impressing in qualifying to put his car in 10th position on the grid, Grove Racing’s 19-year-old rookie Kai Allen dropped eight places in the opening lap after a poor start, finishing 19th.
Erebus Motorsport’s rookie Cooper Murray finished the first race in his debut season one place ahead in 18th.
Brad Jones Racing’s Macauley Jones was forced to start from last place after being hit with a three-place grid penalty by the stewards for impeding James Golding in qualifying.
In a hairy moment earlier in Q1, Golding had to think quickly to avoid a collision with Jones when he was on a flying lap.
Jones went into Golding’s garage to apologise after qualifying, but the stewards slapped a penalty on him for driving slowly on the racing line, dropping him from 23rd to 25th.
The field will back up for a 52-lap race on Saturday night.
BROWN SLIPS, WATERS CLAIMS POLE
Defending Supercars champion Will Brown will start his title defence from outside the top-10 on the grid after a qualifying error pushed him back in the field for the season-opening night race at Sydney Motorsport Park.
As Tickford Racing’s qualifying master Cameron Waters claimed the first pole position of the season, Brown will start from 11th on the grid for his first race as series champion.
Last year’s pole award winner, Waters continued his superb qualifying form to beat Brown’s teammate and championship runner-up Broc Feeney to prime position on the grid.
Matt Payne, Bathurst 1000 champion Brodie Kostecki - for his new team Dick Johnson Racing - and Thomas Randle completed the top five, while Grove Racing rookie Kai Allen will start from 10th for his debut race as a full-time driver in Supercars.
Brown, who claimed his maiden Supercars title in his first season with Triple Eight last year, failed to progress to Q2 after a mistake at the start of his second run.
“We were looking all right in the first run, it wasn’t exactly where we wanted to be, but in that second one …. I just locked the front straight away into turn eight and ran wide and didn’t end up doing the time that we wanted to,” Brown said.
“So, unfortunately not through to the top 10. First race in the year, I would have loved to have been in the top 10 and loved to start up the front but at the end of the day that’s where we are.
“We’ll fight hard tonight and reset for tomorrow. I’m confident we do (have the pace).
“This new tyre is a fair bit different so it is something that we are all learning on and obviously a lot of people are doing a good job, so I have to do a little bit better job as well.
“If I didn’t lock it up at turn eight, I would be in, so it’s my fault.”
Waters set the qualifying benchmark in 2024, claiming seven poles for the year.
The Ford star was hoping to convert his pace in the first 26-lap sprint race.
“The car was so hooked up, massive thanks to the boys and girls at Tickford, a really cool rocket,” Waters said.
“It’s a good way to start this year and we did a race run earlier and the car was pretty speedy in that, too, so we’ll see what happens in the race.”
There was a hairy moment in Q1 when James Golding was fortunate to avoid a collision with Macauley Jones when he was on a flying lap.
Golding had to quickly swerve to avoid a weaving Jones with stewards investigating the incident.
More Coverage
Originally published as Cameron Waters claims win in first Supercars race of the season
NRL wooden spooners are finally good again
The Wests Tigers’ recruits starred on Friday night, but the club is sweating on scans after one of their backs suffered a potentially serious injury.
Penrith’s kids produce stunning upset
Penrith’s stars would have been having a blast by the pool in Las Vegas as the club’s next generation produced the biggest upset of the pre-season.