Mostert determined to beat Triple Eight on merit

Chaz Mostert was a big winner in the championship after Triple Eight hit trouble in Townsville, but maintains he wants to beat the team in a straight fight.

Mostert clawed back crucial ground in the championship chase after Will Brown and Broc Feeney both struggled, with Team Eight boss Jamie Whincup lamenting the team’s “worst day of the year.”

Brown came home 24th and last after a first-lap clash with David Reynolds, while Feeney recovered from a first-lap incident of his own to finish seventh.

Mostert, who finished second and third in the two races, started the weekend 279 points down, but is now 174 adrift heading to Sydney.

"First of all, you've got to try and beat your competitors on track and you've got to try and put the best package you can and drive the car the best you can,” Mostert said.

"For us, I still think we've still got homework to do. So, that's really the only focus for us to still so much to play in this year.”

Mostert’s comments were echoed by Walkinshaw Andretti United Team Principal Carl Faux, who said on the Schick Cool Down Lap podcast: "It’s due to some other people's misfortune.

"We've had some misfortune over time so far this year. There's a long way to go still. We're only halfway through."

Mostert praised WAU for its stunning turnaround in Townsville, with the Mobil 1 Optus Ford 15th and fifth on Friday, before the two-time Bathurst winner brought home two podiums.

“I feel like after Friday we were going, ‘Wow, this could be a really tough weekend for us'. I'm just really proud of our team that we showed great resilience and just kept chipping away at it.

“It's not very often you you roll out of the truck week and you'd be able to turn it into it You know into a good result. We'll take a lot of confidence from this and make sure we go to SMP and roll out as strong as we can."

Track action will commence in Sydney on Friday July 19.