Chaz Mostert is cognisant that he needs to join the likes of Brodie Kostecki and Shane van Gisbergen as race winners in order to keep his Supercars championship hopes alive.
The Walkinshaw Andretti United driver is winless so far in 2023, with two second places being the only podiums to his name, but sits second in the drivers’ standings.
Exactly 100 points to the good is Erebus Motorsport’s Kostecki, who has driven his Chevrolet Camaro to two victories and a total of eight podiums in nine races in the year to date, with Triple Eight Race Engineering’s van Gisbergen 36 points behind in third spot on the table.
That Mostert remains in touch is partly a function of van Gisbergen’s Newcastle disqualification, but also because he has driven his Mobil 1 Optus Mustang to top five finishes in seven races already.
Still, he knows that is not enough in the long-term.
“Normally in this category, you need to be getting trophies consistently to be in that [championship race],” Mostert told Speedcafe.
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“So, I’m glad I’m hanging in there, but we obviously need to be starting on those front two rows, be able to put the pressure on, [to] try and get wins.
“Because, as the year goes on, those guys that are starting to clock these wins up, they’re the guys that we’ve got to be able to catch.
“So, I’m glad I’m in breathing distance but we need to start capitalising on some results and trying to make that car fast, so we’re not sitting there come later in the year and think ‘Hope someone has a bad round’ to try and make up a points deficit.”
The Ford Mustang drivers have been thoroughly outgunned by their Camaro counterparts so far, leading to a fierce debate about parity in this, the first season of the Gen3 ruleset.
Now, the Repco Supercars Championship moves on to a special place for Mostert, namely Symmons Plains International Raceway, where he achieved his first win for WAU, in 2021.
Little can be read into that in the context of the 2023 championship battle, but Mostert does believe that he and engineer Adam De Borre learnt more about the philosophy which is needed for their Gen3-spec Mobil 1 Optus Mustang last time out at Wanneroo.
“I obviously got my first WAU win there,” said the two-time Great Race winner of Symmons Plains.
“Before that, I don’t think I’ve ever had a good result there before I came to this team, so I’m happy to go back there.
“No doubt, we’ve got some things we will want to try there, for sure, now that we’ve found the car a little bit happier in a window, so yeah, I’m excited.”
The Ned Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint starts next Friday, with Practice 1 for the Supercars Championship field on the Saturday from 09:00 local time/AEST.
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