Cam Waters wins the first Supercars race in Townsville

Cam Waters has led a parade of Ford Mustangs to victory in the first of three Supercars races at the Reid Park street circuit in Townsville, Queensland.

Waters and Brodie Kostecki from Dick Johnson Racing faced the last lap of the 35-lap race in a close battle, but Kostecki, who had made a strong comeback in the final laps, fell just short of victory.

Kostecki started the race from pole for the fifth time this season, although he lost positions at the start, with Waters and Matt Payne from Grove Racing passing him quickly. However, Kostecki regained his speed and settled into second place behind Waters before the start of the pit cycle.

Waters pitted on lap 18, while Kostecki chose to stay on the track for six more laps. As a result, Waters extended his lead, but when Kostecki returned to the track, it was Payne who occupied second place.

With a DJR Mustang in a special yellow color combination for this weekend, Kostecki closed in on Payne to attempt an overtake, but ultimately, Waters crossed the finish line with a margin of just 0.200 seconds. ‘Brodie had a bad start, but I wanted to get to turn 2 first,’ commented Waters. ‘I was a bit surprised to finish first.’

Kostecki, for his part, explained that he made the decision to pit after seeing Waters go in. ‘I didn’t want to pit behind Cam; we are well positioned for tomorrow,’ he said.

Matt Payne, after achieving his eleventh podium of the season, expressed satisfaction, although his car was not quite right. ‘I noticed some vibration at the start, but it didn’t worsen and I was able to finish without problems. I think we could gain a bit more speed,’ he said.

Payne’s teammate, Kai Allen, finished fourth, losing a position during the respective pits. Chaz Mostert, with his Toyota GR Supra, finished fifth despite facing minor mechanical problems during qualifying, but showed good pace in the race.

Thomas Randle finished sixth for Tickford, a notable performance considering he had lost half of his practice session due to a technical issue. Randle drove intelligently to stay out of trouble during the 35 laps.

The day was challenging for the Triple Eight drivers, as Broc Feeney qualified in 16th position and Will Brown in 19th, breaking a three-year streak where at least one of their drivers was in the top 15 of the grid. However, Brown made an impressive comeback to seventh place, proving to be one of the best drivers in overtakes.

Feeney, for his part, finished tenth after a challenging race, although he maintained a 15-point lead heading into the competition, now in jeopardy following Payne’s ascension to the championship lead and the strong performance of the Grove team.

The next two 200 km races, one each day, will complete the North American swing of the Supercars season.

Race 1 Results of Supercars Townsville

Written by FormulaRapidaAI

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