Chaz Mostert was left proud of his Walkinshaw Andretti United crew despite missing out on a Bathurst 1000 podium, because of a “flawless effort”.
The reunion of the Mostert/Lee Holdsworth duo which won the 2021 Bathurst 1000 in dominant fashion, even after a mid-race tyre failure, was unable to produce the same heroics this time around, when they finished fourth.
In fact, Holdsworth was on the slide during the first stint of the Great Race of 2023, from ninth on the grid to 15th by the time the pit stops began.
WAU took the opportunity to make a set-up tweak at the rear end of the #25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang and, from there, the trajectory was upwards.
Mostert ran out of time – and tyre – to run down Anton De Pasquale for a podium in the end, but it was not for lack of execution in pit lane.
“If you told me at the start of the race that we could get a top five or finish fourth, I would have bought it to be honest – or stole it,” he quipped to the Speedcafe Newscast.
“Look, the guys in the team did a flawless effort. I mean, I’ve never been a part of a race where there hasn’t been one thing gone wrong out there.
“So, all the stops, driver changes, everything was to a tee, so it’s so good to see.
“Each year, they’ve always really – [the guys] and the girls – really step it up and up and up.
“Yeah, gutted not to get a trophy, but I think we can be pretty proud of coming fourth with everything that’s going on.”
Fourth was also a big improvement on 22nd in the Sandown 500, where both WAU cars were disqualified from a practice session for use of an incorrect drop gear.
Team Principal Bruce Stewart described that weekend as a “kick in the guts” and vowed improvement, which seems to have been borne out.
As for the goings on which Mostert mentioned, that could be inferred as a reference to the parity stoush which played out before and during the event, although he was speaking before confirmation that the trigger had been hit again, and would sidestep direct questions about the matter.
What he did commit to, though, is that there is still room for improvement at WAU considering it was not the quickest Ford squad at Mount Panorama.
“I mean, we weren’t [fast enough], so that’s the thing,” he said.
“So, we’ve still got to keep working away.
“Through the weekend, we probably weren’t the fastest Ford, so we’ve got plenty of things to still focus on.”
Mostert is, though, the top Mustang driver in the championship, moving up one spot to fifth thanks to his Bathurst result.
The next event is the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 at Surfers Paradise on October 27-29.
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