Chaz Mostert is confident that he’s edging closer to a breakthrough Supercars victory as he prepares for his home event at Queensland Raceway this weekend.
The Supercheap Auto Ford driver has been winless this season after returning from a broken leg, wrist and knee ligament damage sustained in a horror shunt at Bathurst that ended his 2015 campaign.
Mostert has been working with a new engineer in Brad Wischusen following the off-season defection of Adam De Borre to DJR Team Penske.
Although the soft tyre has been a challenge for the duo this year, Mostert is happy with progress made at Townsville and is optimistic of building on past success at Queensland Raceway.
Mostert, who moved from Melbourne back to his native Queensland following his accident last year, took his maiden Supercars win at Ipswich back in 2013, before taking another win at the venue last year.
“I have had a bit of success here over the last couple of years so I’m excited to get back out here,” Mostert told Speedcafe.com.
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“We have seen how many winners we have had this season so it could be anyone’s again this weekend.
“At Townsville we really tuned the car up well and we are looking for two strong results in the top five.
“This weekend is another key part of the process of trying to rebuild our pace on the soft tyre.
“There is no extra pressure on myself (due to the win drought),” he added.
“I put the same amount of pressure on myself every weekend to try and perform at my best.
“As long as I go out there and try my hardest and put everything on the table then that is all I can do.
“You can build on good results and if you get a win or podium it builds confidence.
“I’ve had a couple of podiums and pole positions this year which has been great for the confidence, but I’d love to be able to do it this weekend with the family and friends all around.”
Prodrive was the team to beat at Ipswich last year by recording a clean sweep of victories which has left the 24-year-old reasonably confident the team’s pace will continue.
Local squad Triple Eight enters the weekend as favourites due to the recent form of Shane van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup, while a host of others are also expected to be in the mix.
“We can roll out with a base set-up we had last year and I think most teams will run out with what they had last year and try and work on it from there,” Mostert added.
“We can only draw on what we did last year. Our cars were pretty quick here last year so fingers crossed they will be fast thus year.”
Mostert’s car will be driven by Prodrive Dunlop Series runner Garry Jacobson in tomorrow morning’s co-driver session due to the absence of Steve Owen.
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