Big mover Mostert's target after Sydney

Chaz Mostert is determined to improve his one lap pace after the Walkinshaw Andretti United star’s impressive race showing in Sydney.

Mostert finished second and seventh in the two Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight races last weekend.

The WAU driver gained more positions — 16 — than any other driver all weekend, racing from ninth to second under lights before charging from 16th to seventh.

The two-time Bathurst winner was on a mission after a late restart in Race 18, restarting from fifth before emerging second after a thrilling battle with Will Brown, Cam Waters and Shane van Gisbergen.

Come Sunday, and Mostert slumped to 16th in qualifying before working his way through the field to secure his 14th top eight finish from 19 starts this season.

It continued a trend of strong race being hindered by weak one-lap pace; Mostert has qualified 10th or worse 10 times this season from 19 attempts, but has gained five or more places 12 times.

While satisfied with his race pace, Mostert knows he and his team need to improve qualifying performance.

“Our biggest Achilles heel at the moment is still qualifying, from a team point of view,” Mostert told Supercars Trackside.

“We’ve got to dig back through the homework and work out how we can unlock the speed.

“The race car, we can race up into the top 10. Yesterday, we got a bit lucky with the Safety Car stuff.

“We’ve kind of got to work a bit harder in that area.”

Mostert entered the weekend 243 points down, and left 242 points down — a net gain of just one point.

With 1515 points remaining, the 31-year-old is still a factor in the championship fight as the 2023 season shifts back to out-and-out sprint mode at the OTR SuperSprint.

WAU Team Principal Bruce Stewart reiterated his star driver’s sentiment, saying the race pace masked the team’s one-lap frustrations.

“It was pleasing to be a really big part of the spectacle on Saturday night and see Chaz make some really spectacular passes to get onto the podium,” Stewart said.

"It was good for us, good for the fans at the track, and good for the Ford supporters. That said, there is still such a fine difference between success and being further back in the pack.

"We had a strong race package that masked some of the challenges we had in qualifying.”

The 2023 season will resume at the OTR SuperSprint on August 18-20. Tickets are on sale now.

Mostert's charges through the field in 2023