How Tassie has shaped Supercars title race

That was the takeout from a topsy-turvy weekend in Tasmania, where Cam Waters continued a resurgence and Chaz Mostert significantly strengthened his credentials.

The positions at the front remain as before the weekend, with Will Brown leading Mostert, Broc Feeney and Waters, but the Mustang men have closed the gap.

A win and a fourth from the two races netted Waters the highest points haul of the weekend (270) and means he’s now 350 adrift of the lead.

While that’s still a significant hill to climb with four rounds and 1200 points available, Waters is somewhat of a surprise contender given his poor start to the campaign.

Having declared following his first win of the season in Perth back in May that he was hanging onto the title race by his fingertips, the Tickford driver has now upgraded his status.

“I’ve got my fingertips and now my little finger on it as well,” he said following Sunday’s victory.

“So it’s getting closer but there’s still a long way to go. There’s still a lot of racing to be playing for.

“Obviously you have got the enduros, two big races, usually we go pretty strong there. So we’ll just see where we end up.”

Mostert meanwhile was the second-highest points scorer of the weekend thanks to a second place on Saturday and a recovery drive from 11th on the grid to fourth on Sunday.

The weekend had been billed as one that would make or break Mostert’s title bid, given Walkinshaw Andretti United’s struggles on the super soft tyre in Darwin in June.

With those woes seemingly cured, Mostert and WAU will head to the Sandown 500 – where the super soft is once again in use – with increased confidence.

“I’m excited to get to the first leg of the enduros and just keep this pressure on and keep doing what we’re doing,” said Mostert, who is now just 81 points behind Brown.

“At the moment it’s a lot of fun. The championship is in a really cool position with a couple of guys fighting it out.

“We’ve just got to keep riding this wave and see how it turns out each event at a time.”

The weekend was less positive for another Ford star, Matt Payne, who remains fifth but dropped to 561 points behind the leader amid a horror weekend for Grove Racing.

Directly behind Payne is the biggest positional gainer from the weekend, Nick Percat, who jumped three places to sit a fine sixth in the standings for Matt Stone Racing.

Supercars drivers’ championship points (After Race 18 of 24)

Ford squads swap places

Triple Eight managed to increase its teams’ championship lead despite a tough finish to the Sunday race for Feeney and now sits 818 points clear of its nearest rival.

The order among a quartet of Ford squads behind has been shuffled, impacting pit lane positions for the Sandown 500.

WAU edged past Tickford Racing for second place, while Dick Johnson Racing demoted Grove Racing from fourth to fifth.

Chevrolet teams Erebus Motorsport and Team 18 have also swapped spots, now seventh and eighth respectively.

Team 18 endured a double disaster on Sunday, with its drivers Mark Winterbottom and David Reynolds both delayed in separate clashes with Erebus’ Brodie Kostecki.

The Supercars Championship will continue with the Sandown 500 on September 13-15.

Supercars teams’ championship points (After Race 18 of 24)