The Tickford Racing driver had already once passed Wood for the final podium position but was forced to do it a second time, with the decisive move coming on the final lap of Race 9 of the Repco Supercars Championship.

Waters is regarded as one of the harder racers in the Repco Supercars Championship field and he had to draw on his racecraft to make sure there was not a second pass-back at the very last opportunity.

“I had an awesome battle with him,” said the Monster Energy Mustang pilot.

“I was catching him pretty quick; I just wanted to make sure I had some tyre left for him when I got to him.

“He was trying as hard as he could and holding on to it; I could see he had no grip left.

“But, we had an awesome battle and he also showed a heap of respect as well.

“Knowing where the cars are around you at certain times is kind of what the younger guys struggle with, but I felt like I was racing someone that’s been racing for years, so a lot of respect for his performance today.”

The feeling was fairly mutual, with Wood noting that neither Waters nor Will Brown had him off the road despite the temptation to bully a rookie.

Nevertheless, the 20-year-old did find himself halfway off the road at one point, with the left-hand side of his Mobil 1 Truck Assist Mustang in the dirt as he and Brown tore down the back straight when the championship leader made the pass for second place on Lap 40.

“It was just me and Will racing hard and it is what it is,” Wood told Speedcafe.

“It was an amazing battle and same with Cam, and we all have really good respect for each other, which is awesome.

“You know, they could have had me off anytime, being a rookie, so I’m really stoked at the end of the day.

“If you were to tell me I’d qualify front row and then P4 in the race, I’d be pretty happy.

“So, we’ll take this into tomorrow and get some trophies tomorrow.”

Ironically, the Deputy Race Director did review the final-lap battle between Waters and Wood, when the former ran beyond track limits at Turn 7 but may have been helped wide by the latter, after WAU requested an investigation.

The matter was not referred to stewards and the positions as they crossed the finish line stand, meaning Wood remains fourth.

That equals his career-best result so far on a landmark day for the Clayton squad as Chaz Mostert delivered its first win of the Gen3 era.

Mostert qualified on pole but was then jumped by his rookie team-mate when the start lights went out, before reclaiming the ascendancy on Lap 14 and staying in the lead thereafter (pit stops aside).

For Wood, there are lessons to be learned again about how he managed his tyres compared to his more experienced team-mate.

“I got a mega start for once, so that was really cool,” he recalled.

“Then, led my team-mate for 10 or so laps, and then he passed me and kind of let him go and settled in and our cars were super-good.

“We have amazing cars right now and it’s just kudos to our team; like, we’ve worked so hard to get the package we have.

“I feel like if the other guys – the two that got in front of me – rolled two tyres [rather than changing all four], we probably would have had them today.

“So, a little bit to learn for tomorrow – obviously, Chaz won the race on two tyres so I’ve got a little bit to learn over a race run.

“But, other than that, pretty stoked.”