Waters beats Mostert in rain-affected Townsville thriller

In a see-sawing fight for victory between those two all afternoon, Tickford Racing’s Waters made the decisive pass on Lap 82 when he threw his #6 Monster Energy Mustang down the inside at Turn 2.

Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Mostert would ultimately finish 1.8358s behind in the #25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang while championship leader Will Brown brought his #87 Red Bull Ampol Camaro home in third from 13th on the starting grid.

With team-mate Broc Feeney finishing seventh, Brown’s margin at the top of the table is back up to 141 points.

Waters and Mostert made an even start from the front row, with the former taking the lead at Turn 2 of the Reid Park Street Circuit thanks to the inside line which he had earned by qualifying on pole position.

Thomas Randle (#55 Castrol Mustang), Will Davison (#17 Shell V-Power Mustang), and Jack Le Brocq (#9 Tyrepower Camaro) assumed third through fifth, while Feeney (#88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro) divebomed Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries Camaro) for sixth at Turn 11 and brought James Golding (#31 Nulon Camaro) with him.

Brown (#87 Red Bull Ampol Camaro) gradually made his way to eighth on Lap 20, while Mostert was upping the pressure on Waters.

He had a look on multiple occasions at Turn 13, but may have asked too much of his tyres and his deficit to the Tickford driver grew beyond one full second on Lap 23.

It was 1.7s when Mostert was called to pit on Lap 24 for working side tyres, with Walkinshaw Andretti United possibly having to elongate the fuel fill to cover a drama on the left-front.

Feeney pitted on Lap 26 and then Randle was in from second place, at almost seven seconds behind Waters, on Lap 27.

Waters ran until Lap 28, when Tickford changed all four tyres on Car #6 and got him back out in ninth, just ahead of Mostert.

However, with tyres already up to temp, the WAU pilot was able to go down the inside of his Tickford rival at Turn 11, with slight contact.

When Mark Winterbottom (#18 DeWalt Camaro) pitted on Lap 33, Mostert assumed the race lead by a margin of 1.6s over Waters and, once Cameron Hill (#4 PPQ Camaro) was in on Lap 34, the cycle was done with Davison third at another seven seconds in arrears, from Randle, Feeney, Le Brocq, and Brown.

Waters got back as close as 0.6s behind Mostert before the tide turned and the Mobil 1 Optus Mustang led by 1.8s on Lap 45.

Then the pendulum swung back again and Waters was under the rear wing of Car #25 on Lap 52, while Davison was only a couple of seconds behind.

Waters fired down the inside at Turn 11 but could not pull it up in time, and when he had another crack at Turn 2 on Lap 53, Mostert wrested the lead back at Turn 3.

The battle allowed Davison to join in and, when Waters finally made a pass on Mostert stick at Turn 2 on Lap 54, the #17 Mustang got overlap with Car #25 and Davison picked off his WAU rival at Turn 3.

Randle passed Mostert at Turn 11 on Lap 55, moments before Davison at 1.3s off the lead and Mostert both pitted for fuel and four tyres.

Mostert jumped Davison in the lane courtesy of a shorter fill while Le Brocq was in on Lap 56 then Randle and Feeney on Lap 57, and Brown on Lap 59.

Waters was clearly battling to control his Mustang on worn rubber but was kept out until Lap 60, at which time Tickford changed all four tyres, including greens onto the rear.

He rejoined sixth, fourth of those to have stopped twice, but could not keep Le Brocq behind him when they arrived at Turn 3 and took a lap to get the spot back.

When Hill pitted on Lap 65, the second pit stop cycle was done and Mostert led by 0.7s over Randle, with Davison about two seconds back in third Waters about another two seconds behind in fourth, then Le Brocq, Feeney, and Brown.

Waters caught Davison on Lap 72 and there was no resistance when he went down the inside of Car #17 at Turn 13, by which time Randle was 2.8s up the road and Mostert, 3.3s.

Meanwhile, Brown had cleared Feeney and overtook Le Brocq for fifth on Lap 74 at Turn 11, then Davison for fourth on Lap 75.

Davison was shuffled all the way back to eighth – behind Le Brocq, Feeney, and a charging Matt Payne (#19 Penrite Mustang) – after he tried in vain to keep Le Brocq behind him at Turn 2 on Lap 77.

Light rain started to fall and the race was declared wet on Lap 78, before it briefly chucked down at Turn 6.

However, with sunshine in other parts of the circuit, everyone persevered on slicks in ultra-tricky conditions.

Randle was sticking with Mostert until Waters dived down his inside at Turn 2 on Lap 80 and set the gunsights on the #25 Mustang.

Two laps later, Waters made his move and Mostert was forced to give him the corner – and the race lead – to avoid contact.

Attention turned to the battle for third, with Brown having caught and then passed Randle at Turn 11 on Lap 82.

Randle fired it back down the inside at Turn 2 on Lap 83, but Brown made the pass again when they next arrived at Turn 11.

By then, Payne was up to fifth, before he squeezed past Randle as they rounded Turn 10 on Lap 86.

Brown finished third at 4.6801s away from victory despite all 88 laps running under green flag, with Randle holding off Le Brocq to claim fifth in the end.

Feeney was classified seventh, from Davison, Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries Camaro), and Hill.

Brodie Kostecki (#1 Erebus Motorsport Camaro) finished a lap down in 19th after he, Anton De Pasquale (#11 Shell V-Power Mustang), and Nick Percat (#10 Bendix Camaro) came together as they funnelled out of Turn 2 on Lap 1.

Percat eventually got back out to be classified 13 laps down in 21st but De Pasquale was a DNF, with no further action taken over that incident nor Kostecki spinning Jaxon Evans (#12 SCT Logistics Camaro) at the next corner.

Qualifying for Race 14 starts tomorrow at 10:05 local time/AEST.

Results: Race 13, NTI Townsville 500

Drivers’ championship

Teams’ championship