WAU makes Bathurst admission amid 'massive turnaround'

Walkinshaw Andretti United Team Principal Carl Faux “couldn’t be more proud” of his team for its big turnaround from Sandown, but admitted the team simply didn’t have to pace to win Bathurst.

The highly-fancied Chaz Mostert/Lee Holdsworth car finished fifth behind Ford rival Cam Waters/James Moffat, with Ryan Wood/Fabian Coulthard 15th.

It was by no means a straightforward day for the team, with Mostert tripping over the Matt Chahda/Brad Vaughan wildcard, before Wood ran off at Hell Corner in the closing laps.

Mostert — who started ninth — restarted in sixth behind Richie Stanaway after the final Safety Car, and after getting by the Penrite Ford, trailed Waters for the rest of the race.

The team also had to balance the race weekend with the attention that came with the reveal of the full-scale Toyota GR Supra Supercar model at Mount Panorama.

Regardless, Faux was pleased to shake out the demons of a troubled Sandown, which left the team soul-searching following a “diabolical” execution of the race.

“From a team's point of view, it was a massive turnaround from Sandown,” Faux told Supercars.com’s Schick Cool Down Lap podcast.

"So the team executed really well. I couldn't be more proud of them.

"We just didn't have the pace. I think if we'd have got past Cam at any point, Chaz would have been able to drive away, but we didn't have the pace to win this weekend.

"It's been a pretty up and down event for us.”

Faux was also happy Wood managed to get home in his first Great Race, and played down the late error given how many big names made mistakes. Earlier, Wood also survived a brush with a tyre barriers at pit entry.

Namely, Garth Tander and Craig Lowndes bowled wides at Murray’s Corner, while Waters dropped from third to 10th in the opening stint with a similar mistake at Hell Corner.

"Ryan, being in the top 10, small mistake, gone off. He's in good company. Garth had gone off. Cam had gone off,” Faux said.

"So, you know, he's got a thousand k's under his belt, which is great.”

Mostert dropped to third in the championship, 225 points behind Will Brown, with two rounds to go. WAU, meanwhile, is 49 points behind Tickford Racing, with Triple Eight clinching the teams’ championship.