Randle defies 2022 nightmare, Waters pressure

A maiden solo podium proved "surreal" for Thomas Randle at The Bend, who banished his 2022 crash nightmare and out-lasted Cam Waters.

Randle was one of the strongest drivers on Saturday at the OTR SuperSprint, racing to third in Race 20 after scoring a front-row start.

The #55 Castrol Mustang driver led the field through Turn 1 after out-dragging eventual winner Brodie Kostecki.

Randle was eventually passed by Kostecki and Chaz Mostert, and held onto third as Tickford Racing teammate Waters was told to hold station.

The Victorian’s maiden solo podium came a year after Randle started second at The Bend, only to stall on the grid and be clouted by Andre Heimgartner in a 38g accident.

Ironically, Randle shared last year’s front row with Waters, who settled for fourth on Saturday despite being frustrated by team orders.

“It’s pretty crazy to think, a year ago I started in the same spot,” he said, citing his 2022 front row.

'It's pretty crazy to think, a year ago I started in the same spot'

“I loved starting second so much that I stayed there! We did the exact opposite today and got a really good launch.

“We got into the lead and tried to manage it as best I could, but Brodie got me.

“It’s really cool for the team, because we’ve had an up and down year, it’s been a challenging year.

“It’s a great result for them… it’s pretty surreal.”

It marked Randle’s first Supercars podium since he raced to third alongside Lee Holdsworth at the 2019 Sandown 500.

Waters was pleased for his teammate, but wasn’t overly pleased about being told to hold fire: “Look, I wasn’t that impressed.

“I wanted them to put their faith in their drivers and let us race.

“But, yeah, I pulled the team line that one time — probably won’t do it again.

'It’s a great result for them… it’s pretty surreal'

“But, it’s good for the team to get good points and we’ve got fast cars and we’ve got to put it all together and hopefully we can win some races from now on.”

On the Waters battle, Randle said: "I think it was like, ‘Cam won’t race you,’ so yeah, just sort of eyes forward.

“We were sort of that half-second gap the whole way, but whether he was taking it easy, I’m not sure.

“I would have battled it out with me in a way.”

On Waters, Randle added: "You could say he looked after me, so thanks Cam. He’s a pretty good mate of mine.

"I’m sure he’ll want a tow or something tomorrow, so I’ll probably have to give it to him.

"But P3 and P4 for the team today is really solid, and JC [James Courtney] getting up to P8, I think, from 12th or something — three [Tickford] cars in the 10 is pretty cool.”

Supercars will return to the track for ARMOR ALL Qualifying for Races 21 and 22 at 9:45am local time/10:15am AEST on Sunday.