Mostert searching for crucial gains in Melbourne

Chaz Mostert will be aiming for a change in his qualifying fortunes at the MSS Security Melbourne SuperSprint this weekend.

Mostert enters the second event of the Repco Sprint Cup third in the standings after the opening event of the year at Sydney Motorsport Park, recording finishes of second, fourth, and third.

However, his race performances were made all the more impressive when you factor in that he only qualified inside the top five once.

Although Mostert's qualifying pace didn't bury him in the pack, starting eighth in Race 1 and 10th in Race 2 after spinning on his Shootout lap, it left him with plenty of work to do in the races.

The Melbourne SuperSprint begins with a manic Thursday, featuring two half-hour practice sessions, two 15-minute Boost Mobile Qualifying sessions, and Race 4 of the championship over 19 laps.

There will be an emphasis placed on rolling out with a fast car right from the outset, with limited opportunities to make adjustments before qualifying and the race tomorrow afternoon.

“The AGP is always a great event, all the big dogs will be in town, so it will be cool to have them all watching," Mostert said.

“Thursday is a pretty big day for us, we have five sessions on track so we want to be rolling out of the truck strong.

“We had a quick race car in Sydney but we didn’t qualify where we wanted to, that’ll be really important this weekend as there are no pit stops to bring strategy into play.”

Albert Park is a happy hunting ground for Mostert and WAU, who claimed a win there in 2022, and it is also a happy hunting ground for teammate Ryan Wood.

In just his second Supercars event Wood impressed in Melbourne last year, recording his first career top 10 finish in the third race of the weekend, and showed impressive qualifying speed at Sydney, outqualifying Mostert for the first race of the season.

“I love this track, I had my first top 10 result here last year which brings back some good memories, but we will definitely be looking to take a big step up on that this year," Wood said.

“This weekend is pretty cool, getting to share the track with the bigwigs is honestly surreal, the crowd always turns up so we need to put on a show for them.

“It’s a huge weekend coming up with four days of action on track, the sprint format means there are no pit stops and no strategy so it’s every man for themselves out there.”

On-track action at the MSS Security Melbourne SuperSprint begins Thursday morning.