Mostert penalty hands Waters Perth finale win

Chaz Mostert and WAU have been denied a weekend sweep win after a five-second time penalty handed Perth victory to Cam Waters.

Pole-sitter Waters led Mostert around Turn 1, but his lead lasted all of six corners after he bowled a wide at Turn 7. By lap 6, Mostert had opened up a 1.2s lead.

However, an unsafe release after on Thomas Randle through the stops ensured Mostert had to fight to open a gap, only for Waters to close in in the final laps. Mostert did, however, finish second, and claimed fastest lap bonus points.

Randle was later hit by championship leader Will Brown, who despite being hit with a penalty of his own, held onto the final place on the podium and extended his championship lead.

“It's been such a shit start to the year. It's awesome to get a few trophies this weekend and get the win in that race,” said Waters, who claimed his first win since Adelaide last November.

"We had really good car speed. I don't know what happened at lap 1 at Turn 7. I don't know if there was stuff on the track or whatever, but we kept our head down.

“We had a really fast car at the end there when it was lighter and managed to close the gap on Chazzy. Bad luck to Chazzy with obviously the five-second penalty."

After Mostert cleared Waters at the end of lap 1, Nick Percat attracted a 15-second penalty after sending Jack Le Brocq into a spin at Turn 6.

Erebus Motorsport’s woes continued shortly after, with Brodie Kostecki forced into the garage and out of the race after the #1 Chevrolet suffered overheating.

Mostert had opened up a 1.9s margin on Waters by the time he stopped on lap 28, with Randle following the leader in. Mostert was fitted with four tyres, and Randle two.

The time difference between the stops brought Randle into play, and Mostert was released into the path of the #55 Castrol Ford. Randle was forced to baulk, and Mostert was awarded a five-second penalty over an unsafe release.

All the while, Tim Slade was hit with a 15-second penalty over an unsafe release of his own, with the #200 PremiAir Nulon Chevrolet released into Jaxon Evans’ #12 SCT Logistics Chevrolet, leading to heavy contact.

Waters pitted and took on four tyres on lap 30, and emerged behind Mostert and Randle. By the time the field cleansed on lap 37, Mostert led Randle by 3.8s, with Waters fast approaching his Tickford teammate.

Randle side-stepped for Waters around Turn 6 on lap 38, with Mostert 4.3s up the road by the time the Tickford Mustangs swapped positions. Brown was four seconds behind Randle, having passed Wood for fifth.

Both Shell V-Power Fords, meanwhile, took on two green working side tyres, with Will Davison and Anton De Pasquale sixth and seventh, with Matt Payne, David Reynolds and Broc Feeney rounding out the top 10.

Mostert eked the margin out to 4.7s, before Waters slashed the gap to 3.8s by lap 45. Randle was 2.5s behind his teammate, with Brown rapidly closing on the Castrol Ford. By lap 47, the margin between the leaders was 3.3s.

On lap 49, Brown caught Randle into Turn 6, before nose-to-tail contact sent the Castrol Ford into the Turn 7 sand. Randle dropped behind Davison, and fell into the clutches of De Pasquale. However, Wood fought past De Pasquale into Turn 1.

Officials quickly advised Brown had been placed under investigation, and a five-second penalty was applied. However, given Davison was 5.7s behind, Brown’s podium appeared secure.

Mostert crossed the first, but Waters was reclassified as the winner by the official margin of 2.5885s. Brown also held onto his podium, albeit by 1.0538s from Davison, with Randle fifth.

Brown extended his lead over Feeney to 136 points, with Mostert 175 points behind. Waters, who started the weekend 15th in the standings, moved to fourth, and is 381 points behind.

Red Bull Ampol Racing has a 594-point lead over WAU, with Tickford Racing third, albeit 674 points down. Penrite Racing dropped from second to fourth over the weekend.

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