Mostert building case for championship charge

Chaz Mostert feels he has a “good opportunity” to challenge for a maiden championship this year, but is determined to prove his Perth dominance was no fluke.

Mostert snapped an 18-month winless drought in Race 9, and crossed the line first in both Perth races, only denied a sweep due to an unsafe release penalty on Sunday.

It was a statement weekend for Mostert and Walkinshaw Andretti United, which after a test day, had both Mustangs fighting at the front of the field.

Mostert slashed the deficit to championship leader Will Brown from 196 to 175 points, and is just 39 points behind second-placed Broc Feeney.

Just twice before has Mostert been closer to the championship lead after four rounds — in 2017, he was fifth and 31 points down, while he was third and 166 points adrift last year.

However, it was at Round 5 in both campaigns that the wheels began to fall off — in 2017, he suffered a tailshaft issue at Winton and copped a DNF, while he qualified no higher than 17th in Darwin last year.

The deficit in 2017 after Round 5 blew out to 199 points, while he was 243 points behind after Round 6 last year in Townsville, where he suffered a Sunday DNF due to a power steering issue.

Mostert cited 2015 as his last genuine shot at the title, when he closed to 174 points of teammate and eventual champion Mark Winterbottom leading into the enduros.

However, that campaign was cut short following a horror crash in Bathurst qualifying, which ruled the then 23-year-old out for the rest of the season.

“I'm at that age now, I can't say I'm a rookie anymore,” Mostert said.

“Everyone keeps telling me we've been in the sport about 10 years, [but] the championship's eluded me.

“I've only really had one year where I thought we were a shot at that and I didn't even finish the year, in 2015, so I feel like it's a good opportunity this year.”

WAU was a clear winner after its pre-Perth test day, and his results at CARCO.com.au Raceway should put him in the box seat in Darwin.

However, Mostert — who has already lost points due to incidents in Melbourne and a loose wheel in New Zealand — wants to back it up at Hidden Valley, where he won with WAU in 2021 and 2022.

“I don't want to be cliché, too — everyone has one unbelievable round and then say, ‘Yeah, they're back’,” he added.

“So, we just need to keep building these next couple of rounds. You know, we gave a few points away at the start of this year, which hurt a little bit — losing the wheel at Taupo, probably there's been another one at Grand Prix where Chaz probably was a bit aggressive with the car.

“It's good to think that hopefully our championship can start now and keep pushing, and we'll see if we can make these other guys make some mistakes along the way.”

The 2024 season will resume at the betr Darwin Triple Crown on June 14-16. Tickets for the event are on sale now. International viewers can follow all the action on Superview.