Mostert misses Saturday Shootout in dramatic Adelaide qualifying

A two-part morning qualifying session set the contenders for a Top 10 Shootout, while locking in grid positions 11 through 25.

Mostert was 22nd when the chequered flag fell on Q1 – but his final flyer proved enough to vault into fourth and progress to Q2.

When the second segment started, however, the #25 Mustang remained in the pits with its engine failing to fire.

The team was able to start it with a jump battery and charge the battery with the alternator, before fulfilling the requirement that cars must be able to start under their own power.

However, that left Mostert with just one run in Q2. He initially went P4 but quickly slid outside the top 10 and was unable to improve on his second lap.

“It cost me a run to build into it and I had to put it all on the line [in the second run],” he said of the engine problem. “It costs you everything. I’ve got nothing else to say.”

Teammate Ryan Wood topped both segments, ending Q2 ahead of two of Mostert’s title rivals Kai Allen and Broc Feeney.

Aaron Cameron, Anton De Pasquale, Will Brown, Matt Payne, Thomas Randle, Cooper Murray and Brodie Kostecki also booked Shootout slots.

A Shootout berth was a great result for Randle following his heavy hit at Turn 8 in the Friday race. The driver survived another scare at the sweeper when he tagged the concrete in Q1.

Three big names were eliminated in Q1 – David Reynolds, Andre Heimgartner and Cam Waters set to start today’s race 19th through 21st.

“The car was out of the window,” said Waters.

“I don’t know what we missed so badly then, but obviously a very different car to what we had in practice. It wouldn’t turn, wouldn’t get out, wouldn’t do anything.”

Reynolds, by contrast, was happy with his car but felt his downfall was a matter of timing.

“Probably missed out on the timing a little bit, probably needed to get that second lap,” he said.

“The track is really dirty, there was shit everywhere and it just got better and better. You kind of needed two laps out there on the last set.”

Jaxon Evans, Will Davison and James Golding filled the next three spots as all 24 regular entries qualified within a second of Wood’s pacesetting Q1 time.

American wildcard Austin Cindric was at the foot of the order, a hefty 0.7s further adrift of Golding.

Results: Repco Supercars Championship BP Adelaide Grand Final, Qualifying Race 2