Supercars Sydney: Mostert wins under the lights

Sydney Motorsport Park has hosted a classic tortoise-and-hare Supercars battle, with Walkinshaw Andretti United's Chaz Mostert taking his second win of the season on Saturday night.

In the only Supercars event of the season to be run under artificial lighting Mostert, who started from third on the grid, caught the leader Matt Payne with five laps to spare.

While nearly every other driver opted for a two-stop strategy over the 51-lap journey and some even ran a three-stop plan, Grove Racing changed strategy early in the race and switched 21-year-old Payne onto a one-stopper. So his single stop was far longer than anyone else's, dropping him from the lead of the race to 22nd.

But as the second pit cycle played out he found himself 14 seconds clear of the field with 15 laps remaining. Mostert, who started on the second row of the grid, chased him down to take his second win of the season. 

“It's a long slog around here, 50 laps,” said Mostert after his 2.64s win.

“I was thinking, when they told me Matty Payne was up the road, I just hoped his [tyre] deg [degradation] was just a bit worse than mine.

“You never believe until the job is done. We always knew that the strategy was going to be one or the other, I am happy to have kept the tyres on the car.”

Payne started 10th on the grid after spinning off during his qualifying lap in the Top 10 Shoot-out and started the race believing he was on a two-stop strategy. But as the rest of the field filed into the pits, he was left waiting. 

Matthew Payne, Grove Racing Ford Mustang GT (Photo by: Edge Photographics)

After exiting on fresh rubber with 28 laps to go, Payne was warned to drive "under the grip level", a clear message to look after his tyres and prevent the need for an impromptu and extremely costly late change of plan.

“We set up to do a two, but when we saw our pace drop in the first stint, they got on the radio and said a one [stop race],” he explained.

“If we did a two-stopper we would not have finished this high up. It's not easy doing 28 laps around here [on one set of tyres] but the car was pretty good. But I have to qualify better, I was on for a pretty good lap until I threw it away.”

Tickford had locked out the front with Cam Waters starting on pole position in the Monster Energy Mustang from Thomas Randle. But these positions switched after just one corner, with Randle braving the treacherous outside line before cutting across under braking for the Turn 2 hairpin, forcing Waters to accept second spot. 

“I got a slightly better jump and a black car [teammate Cam Waters], under lights... it's pretty hard to see!” he said after his first podium of the season.

“Second was the ultimate we could have got tonight, but I am rapt with a podium. They did a great job on a one-stopper, I was relieved when we stuck to a two-stopper.”

The first lap had also saw Mark Winterbottom lock up into Turn 2, with his DeWalt Racing Camaro spearing violently right and into the side of Macauley Jones Brad Jones Racing Camaro. 

Although both continued, the pair finished in 20th and 24th - Winterbottom crossing the line 10 laps down and last of those still running.

Ford dominated the top five places, with Dick Johnson Racing teammates Will Davison and Anton De Pasquale fourth and fifth, in a welcome return to form for the team.

Will Brown was the best of the Chevrolet drivers to take sixth for Triple Eight, just ahead of Waters, who had a tough race, going from pole position to seventh at the flag. A refiller glitch prompted the team to hold him at his second stop, to be certain to meet the 80-litre minimum fuel drop required by the regulations, and he lost numerous positions as a result.

Matt Stone Racing Chevrolet driver Nick Percat was eighth ahead of Triple Eight's Broc Feeney and Erebus Motorsport Brodie Kostecki, who recovered after a vibration problem early in the race, which the team put down to his first tyre set.

The other notable driver to opt for a one-stopper was Matt Stone Racing's Cameron Hill, who took 11th position.

Brown's result maintained his points lead and has moved to 1617, with teammate Broc Feeney now 96 behind on 1521. Mostert remains third but has closed in and is on 1491, ahead of Waters (1222) and Payne (1203).

The Supercars will be back on the track on Sunday afternoon, for a 15-minute Qualifying session at 12:05pm, Eastern Standard Time. The Top 10 Shootout will start at 1:40pm before Race 16, over 51 laps, which is due to start at 4:05pm.

Supercars Sydney SuperNight Result

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver		Car	Laps	Time	Interval	Retirement	Points
1	C. Mostert Mobil 1 Optus Racing		Ford Mustang GT	51				150
2	M. Payne Penrite Racing		Ford Mustang GT	51	2.6412			143
3	T. Randle Monster Castrol Racing		Ford Mustang GT	51	4.5639			129
4	W. Davison Dick Johnson Racing		Ford Mustang GT	51	18.1193			120
5	A. De Pasquale Dick Johnson Racing		Ford Mustang GT	51	20.3561			111
6	W. Brown Red Bull Ampol Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	51	27.6433			102
7	C. Waters Monster Castrol Racing		Ford Mustang GT	51	29.6967			96
8	N. Percat Bendix Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	51	33.1724			90
9	B. Feeney Red Bull Ampol Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	51	33.5289			84
10	B. Kostecki Erebus Motorsport Penrite		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	51	36.6762			78
11	C. Hill Tyrepower Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	51	39.0481			72
12	A. Heimgartner R&J Batteries Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	51	39.1750			69
13	R. Wood Mobil 1 Truck Assist Racing		Ford Mustang GT	51	42.0871			66
14	J. Golding PremiAir Nulon Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	51	43.7372			63
15	T. Slade PremiAir Nulon Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	51	44.8123			60
16	R. Stanaway Penrite Racing		Ford Mustang GT	51	52.2028			57
17	D. Reynolds Tradie Beer Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	51	56.2781			54
18	J. Evans SCT Motorsport		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	51	58.1756			51
19	B. Fullwood Middy's Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	51	1'00.1018			48
20	M. Jones Pizza Hut Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	51	1'06.1272			45
21	J. Courtney Snowy River Racing		Ford Mustang GT	51	1'06.5427			42
22	L. Dalton Tickford Racing		Ford Mustang GT	51	1'25.1435			39
23	A. Love Brad Jones Racing		Ford Mustang GT	51	1'28.4713			36
24	M. Winterbottom DEWALT Racing		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	41	10 laps			30
	J. Le Brocq Erebus Motorsport Penrite		Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Gen3	47			Retirement
View full results