Mostert not surprised by rivals' AGP bad luck

The quick-fire Albert Park format was destined to leave the big names vulnerable to poor luck, says Chaz Mostert.

Every driver in the top seven in the points finished a race lower than 14th in Melbourne.

The four-race weekend offered 75 points for a win, meaning drivers avoided severe damage on the points totem.

However, Shane van Gisbergen still managed to leave Melbourne with a 144-point lead.

Mostert would have been closer had he not stumbled to 22nd in the first Saturday race after a collision with James Courtney.

He won the first and last races of the weekend, but van Gisbergen won the race he finished 22nd.

Van Gisbergen shadowed Mostert in the finale, only to suffer a puncture and finish 20th.

Shell Ford duo Anton De Pasquale and Will Davison, who are second and fourth overall, also hit trouble.

Mostert, who won Races 6 and 9, wasn’t surprised drivers pushed hard and struck drama in the truncated format.

“Two wins, we’re pretty ecstatic about that,” Mostert said.

“I didn’t feel I did my best job [in the two Saturday races], so I was pretty dirty with myself.

“You have these four races here, the aggression is usually up because you need to make a move earlier than what you would do in longer races.

“I’m not surprised that at least one of us had a bad race result or a thing goes wrong, it’s what seems to happen around here.”

The upcoming Bunnings Trade Perth SuperNight will feature three 100-lap sprint races.

Drivers won’t have to contend with longer races and refuelling until Townsville in July.

Mostert says the current format still offers good racing, but longer races provide an extra strategy factor which varies results.

“I was a big fan of Supercars back in like 2012 when the races were super long,” he said.

“It’s so cool, the aspect of our racing seeing more strategy into races, and fuel races.

“Some of the best ding-dong battles I’ve ever seen were in that era.

“Our racing’s still cool now, we put it all on the line, we’re still aggressive."

The 2022 season will resume at the Bunnings Trade Perth SuperNight. Purchase your tickets now.