Tander condemns Mostert’s Supercars title hopes early

After 16 races, Mostert has three wins to his name and trails Red Bull Ampol Racing’s Will Brown by just 105 points.

That’s the smallest deficit Mostert has had to the lead after seven rounds in any of his Supercars seasons. It’s also the best position he’s been in the drivers’ championship at the same point.

With back-to-back wins at Sydney Motorsport Park, the Mobil1 Optus Racing driver leapt ahead of Broc Feeney to second in the standings.

He ticked a bunch of boxes too. It was the first time in nine years that Mostert claimed back-to-back race wins. The last time he did that was in 2015 across Queensland Raceway and Sydney Motorsport Park.

It’s also the first time in more than 20 years that a driver swept both races at Sydney Motorsport Park. Marcos Ambrose did that in 2003.

While Walkinshaw Andretti United rides the wave, Tander expects it’ll come crashing down.

Asked after the Sydney SuperNight whether he thought Mostert would win the title, Tander replied “Not yet” on Fox Sports’ coverage.

He explained, “I’m not saying that they won’t in the future, but not this year. Tassie will be a real teller for us, whether they have made gains on the super soft tyre.”

What’s the fly in the ointment? Red Bull Ampol Racing, according to Tander.

Brown has been uber-consistent this year. In the 16 races so far, the #87 driver has finished on the podium in all but three of them.

The only real blip on his radar was 24th in Race 14 at the Townsville 500 where he got caught in the lap one melee that sent him into the wall between turns two and three.

Mostert and Brown have three wins apiece though Feeney has been the best of all as far as first place finishes go. The #88 pilot has five to his credit but has been off the podium in half of the races this season.

Nevertheless, Tander expects Triple Eight Race Engineering will be the team fighting for the drivers’ championship come Adelaide.

“[Triple Eight] have done this year in, year out for the last 15 years. They are so championship-hardened, they know how to get the job done,” Tander explained.

“Broc Feeney has watched Shane van Gisbergen do it in the past, Will Brown watched Brodie Kostecki do it last year at Erebus.

“That’s not to say Walkinshaw Andretti United and Chaz Mostert won’t develop that, but they probably need to come up short to really find what they need to get the job done.”

While Tander downplayed Mostert’s chances, commentary off-sider Mark Skaife had higher hopes.

“But I think the way they’re performing now, and the way that they look like they’ve made the car work,” he explained.

“Their engineering base seems like its more stable, their teamwork’s good. I reckon they’re real contenders.”

Supercars continues its season at Symmons Plains Raceway on August 16-18 with the Tasmania SuperSprint.

Chaz Mostert after Round 7 in Supercars (points differential, best to worst)