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Chaz Mostert and his engineer Adam De Borre have found a set-up philosophy for their Ford Mustang Supercar after a turnaround during the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint.
Mostert led the Repco Supercars Championship at the conclusion of the season-opening Thrifty Newcastle 500 before being overtaken by Brodie Kostecki at the Beaurepaires Melbourne SuperSprint, and remained second on the points table throughout the latest event of the season, at Wanneroo Raceway.
The Walkinshaw Andretti United driver may have given up more ground relative to Kostecki in the West, but he also finished the weekend more competitive than how he started.
After bringing the Mobil 1 Optus Mustang home in 11th from 15th on the grid in Race 7, he scored fourth from a start of sixth in Race 8 and fifth from seventh in Race 9.
“[Race 8], we can’t be unhappy with that – we were fourth in that one and obviously fifth [in Race 9], so it’s been a big turnaround for the guys,” Mostert told Speedcafe.
“To qualify sixth and seventh, I was probably a little upset with myself, not maximising the car in qualifying, but it’s super-tight out there.
“I think [on Sunday], when we changed the car, it was like starting Friday again; we were just a little bit behind the eight ball.
“The car needs a little bit more fine-tuning, still a bit of learning, but that’s the philosophy we need to stick with.
“Grand Prix and [Saturday in Perth], we just weren’t that competitive, so I’m pretty happy to at least find something this early in the year and keep building on that.”
His Race Engineer, De Borre, had similar comment between the Sunday races in Wanneroo.
“Just learning this car and just trying to find the window that it likes to be in consistently,” he said.
“We thought we had a good car at Newcastle, Grand Prix was a bit mixed for us and that kind of led us down a direction, and we’ve had to kind of come back a little bit.
“I think we’re in a good space now and I think that will bode well for the rest of the year.”
Mostert trails Kostecki by exactly 100 points ahead of the Ned Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint at Symmons Plains on May 19-21.
