Form tracks, career-best in Mostert's sights in run home
Chaz Mostert is just 159 points down from third with 600 left to win
Mostert finished third overall in 2021 and 2022
WAU star finished on podium twice last year at GC500, and won in Adelaide
A “pumped” Chaz Mostert arrives at his home race with plenty for fight for, with the Walkinshaw Andretti United driver looking to clinch his third consecutive top three finish.
Mostert has been the lead Ford driver in 2023, and sits fifth with six podiums despite going without victory or pole all season.
The two-time Bathurst winner has a strong record on the Gold Coast, finishing all 11 races he started, with nine top 10s, two wins (2017 and 2018) and a podium sweep last year.
He also has six podiums in Adelaide, highlighted by victory in last year’s Saturday race.
The only blip on his Gold Coast record is in 2019, when he had the fastest car but was ruled out of the weekend due to a heavy crash in the Saturday Shootout.
“I love racing on the GC, it’s my home race so that makes it extra special to have friends and family there to support,” he said.
“I’m pumped for this weekend, it’s such a fun track, there is no room for errors, the smallest mistake and you’re eating concrete for dinner.
“The crowd is always massive and passionate here, it’s got one of the best atmospheres on the calendar.”
Critically, the WAU star is just 157 points behind third-placed Will Brown, and 139 behind fourth-placed Broc Feeney, with 600 points left to win at the Gold Coast and Adelaide.
While a mathematical yet faint chance of winning the 2023 championship, Mostert is well-placed to mount an attack and back up his third-place finishes in 2021 and 2022.
Only championship leader Brodie Kostecki (1097 points), Shane van Gisbergen (1031) and Anton De Pasquale (803) have scored more points than Mostert since Townsville.
Fourth place at the Repco Bathurst 1000 with Lee Holdsworth helped Mostert reclaim fifth from Andre Heimgartner, who recorded a DNF due to an engine failure.
With De Pasquale the closest Ford driver behind, albeit 328 points down, Mostert is odds-on to lead the Ford brigade this season — something he is using as motivation.
“I feel like in my career, I had one proper year where I was in a real good shot [at the championship] and unfortunately, I ended up sitting on the couch the rest of the year,” said Mostert to media on Tuesday, referring to his season-ending Bathurst crash in 2015. reference to 2015 and his season-ending crash at Bathurst.
“You need to tell yourself as a driver to keep yourself motivated. Even over my years when I was just trying to get into the [top] 10, or trying to get that top five position, you’re always telling yourself that you’d rather have that position over than falling back.
“You’ve got to keep yourself motivated. If I can somehow hold on to top five in the championship for the rest of the year and have that small little glimmer of trying to beat the other Ford guys, it’s always a nice little thing.”
Mostert will hit the track at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 for the first time on Friday.
