Erebus Motorsport’s Will Brown has taken over the Repco Supercars Championship lead with victory in a dramatic Race 16 at the NTI Townsville 500.
Brown had qualified on pole position but got forced wide by a bold Shane van Gisbergen move at the first braking zone and needed 23 laps to get back where he started.
Once he did, the #9 Coca-Cola Camaro was never headed again on effective terms, with the 150-point haul helping him to leapfrog team-mate Brodie Kostecki after multiple problems for the #99 Erebus entry.
Red Bull Ampol Racing’s Broc Feeney (#88 Camaro) finished second and Chaz Mostert took third after Walkinshaw Andretti United put the #25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang on a three-stop strategy for the 88 laps around the Reid Park Street Circuit.
Van Gisbergen got home fourth in the #97 Red Bull Ampol Camaro after a late pass on Tickford Racing’s Cameron Waters in the #6 Monster Energy Mustang.
Behind those two was Scott Pye (#20 Hino Camaro), from Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries Camaro), Bryce Fullwood (#14 Middy’s Camaro), James Courtney (#5 Snowy River Caravans Mustang), and Will Davison (#17 Shell V-Power Mustang) in 10th.
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The latter had to save fuel to make the chequered flag despite three visits to the pit lane after at least Dick Johnson Racing, Grove Racing, and Brad Jones Racing reportedly had refuelling issues.
Kostecki salvaged a finish of 19th, David Reynolds (#26 Penrite Mustang) plummeted to 21st when he looked on for a possible podium, and Anton De Pasquale (#11 Shell V-Power Mustang) was a DNF due to electrical problems.
Brown had led the field off the grid from van Gisbergen, who was smartly away from Row 2 and lunged at the #9 Erebus entry at Turn 2.
That took several wide and Waters, who also started on Row 2, emerged with the lead before Feeney passed team-mate van Gisbergen for second place at Turn 6.
The latter scraped the tyre wall exiting Turn 8 after contact with Jack Le Brocq (#34 Truck Assist Camaro) and dropped to 14th.
Ironically, he was back up to 12th less than a lap later when he passed both Courtney and Kostecki (#99 Coca-Cola Camaro) after the latter divebombed the former at Turn 2.
Waters quickly established and then maintained a 1.0s lead, from Feeney, Brown, Mostert, Reynolds, Matt Payne (#19 Penrite Mustang), James Golding (#31 Nulon Camaro), Fullwood, and Davison.
Brown passed Feeney for second at Turn 11 on Lap 16, while van Gisbergen was up to seventh with a move on Golding on Lap 20, before Reynolds passed Mostert for fourth at Turn 2 on Lap 21.
The latter was first of the top 10 to pit, at the end of that lap, when WAU changed rears only and locked in three stops.
Brown caught Waters and made the pass at Turn 11 on Lap 23, quickly clearing out from the #6 Mustang.
Feeney was into the lane from third on Lap 26 while Brown had gapped Waters to the tune of more than six seconds by the time both pitted on Lap 29.
Waters had a longer dwell to cover the Tickford Racing crew making an adjustment to the rear end of Car #6, as was the case earlier for fellow Ford driver, Davison (DJR).
Van Gisbergen ran longer than anyone before stopping on Lap 34, and rejoining 11th.
With the first cycle done, Mostert led by a full 18 seconds from Brown, Feeney, an early-stopping De Pasquale, Reynolds, Payne, Waters, Cameron Hill (#35 Truck Assist Camaro), Courtney, and Heimgartner, while Kostecki was 20th in a Camaro which was unable to use second gear.
Reynolds went on a march, passing De Pasquale at Turn 2 and then Feeney at Turn 13 on Lap 36.
However, it would emerge that both his Grove team and DJR had difficulty connecting the new-for-2023 fuel head in their opening stops, meaning longer second dwells were coming for at least Cars #11, #17, and Reynolds’ #26.
Mostert pitted for a second time on Lap 42 and rejoined 18th, as van Gisbergen continued to make ground.
He was past Waters for fifth on Lap 45 at Turn 13 and then Payne for fourth on Lap 49 at the same spot, with Heimgartner following at Turn 2.
Heimgartner had a somewhat short first stop at 33 litres but had pace, picking off van Gisbergen for fourth on Lap 50 at Turn 13, as Brown moved his margin over Reynolds back beyond three seconds at the head of the field, with Feeney still third.
It was 5.6s when Reynolds pitted on Lap 56 and was followed into the lane by Heimgartner, before Feeney and Waters stopped, two laps later.
Erebus responded by calling Brown in on Lap 59 and he resumed in fourth position with an effective lead of 3.6s over Feeney, followed by Waters and Heimgartner.
Van Gisbergen pitted from the official lead on Lap 64 and then Mostert also took his final stop on Lap 65, leaving Brown back in the lead by 2.4s over Feeney.
Waters sat third for the run home, from Heimgartner, Fullwood, Reynolds, Pye, Davison, van Gisbergen, Thomas Randle (#55 Castrol Mustang), and Mostert in 11th.
A Safety Car was called on Lap 69 when Todd Hazelwood had to pull off due to suspicion of a fire in the left-rear corner of the #3 CoolDrive Mustang, wiping out most of a 2.0s lead for Brown.
Van Gisbergen was up to eighth and Mostert ninth by then, while DJR used the yellow flag period to call Davison in for a third stop, and Kostecki was into the lane multiple times to address possible damage after reported contact with Tim Slade (#23 Nulon Camaro).
The race restarted with 17 laps to go and Mostert used the criss-cross to put a move on van Gisbergen at Turn 3.
Pye had also passed Reynolds just ahead of them and then when Mostert lunged at the #26 Mustang at Turn 11, he made room for van Gisbergen and ultimately Randle to follow.
Pye and Mostert quickly cleared Fullwood by the time the WAU driver dived past the #20 Team 18 entry at Turn 11 on Lap 76 to take up fifth position, as Reynolds reported damage back to the Grove bunker.
With newer tyres, Mostert made light work of Heimgartner on Lap 78 and needed barely two laps to wipe out a 1.7-second deficit to Waters.
The former Tickford driver passed the #6 Tickford entry for third at Turn 3, by which time Feeney was 2.2s up the road and Brown even further clear.
Meanwhile, van Gisbergen had overtaken Heimgartner for fifth on Lap 80 and Turn 11 and Pye did likewise for sixth on Lap 82.
Mostert chipped away at Feeney’s margin but his charge started to slow.
Brown, though, started to gap the second-placed #88 Camaro and took the chequered flag 3.3008s to the good.
Waters tried to stave off van Gisbergen in the closing laps but the Triple Eight Race Engineering driver got by as they exited Turn 12.
In the drivers’ championship, Brown is 43 points up on Kostecki, with Feeney just one point further back.
Qualifying for Race 17 starts tomorrow at 10:00 local time/AEST.
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