The Tickford Racing ace enjoyed a breakthrough weekend at the Perth SuperSprint, banking his first podium of the season with a third on Saturday, before scoring a maiden win of the campaign on Sunday.

The results were a welcome change of fortune for Waters and Tickford off the back of a difficult start to a season where he was expected to be a title contender.

That included issues such as losing a wheel at the season opener in Bathurst, clashing with Matt Payne while fighting for the lead at Albert Park, and tangling with Tim Slade off the line when starting from pole in Taupo.

The Perth turnaround shifted Waters up to fourth in the standings, albeit 381 points behind runaway early leader Will Brown.

When quizzed on his hopes by Speedcafe, Waters said the title dream is still alive… just. And that it will take a lot of winning from this point on.

“I’m hanging on by my fingernails,” he said.

“[The Perth] weekend was all about getting some car speed and putting a lot of the bad luck behind us, and trying to convert a bit of that car speed.

“[Saturday] was great, you know, getting the podium and we really just built on that overnight and brought a faster car to the track [on Sunday].

“For Tickford it’s all about getting faster and being more consistent week in, week out. And we’ve just got to do a lot of winning now.”

The breakthrough Waters win came in somewhat strange circumstances, with Chaz Mostert crossing the line first before being demoted to second with a five-second penalty for an unsafe release.

That came two years after Waters crossed the line first in a race in Perth, only for a time penalty for a track limits breach to hand the win to Will Davison.

“It was nice for it to go my way for change,” joked Waters. “This year nothing has gone my way.

“I feel sorry for Chazzy losing one like that. But at the same time, I’ll take them however I can get them at the moment.”