Chaz Mostert is currently third in the drivers’ championship but winless since the 2022 Adelaide 500, meaning he is yet to stand on the stop step of the podium in the Gen3 era.
While he may be the best of the rest in an otherwise tight top 10 on the points table, on which third to 10th is covered by 128 points, Broc Feeney is 125 points clear in second and his Triple Eight Race Engineering team-mate Will Brown leads the title race by 71 points.
Mostert, though, is off to the best possible start at this weekend’s Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint, putting the #25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang top of the timesheet after the sole practice session so far, and churning out strong long-run pace.
“As you develop your cars and we get to know more about Gen3, and our team bonds a little bit closer – we had some new people in as well; they add new thinking in – you hope that you naturally get faster and a little bit more competitive all the time,” said Stewart after Practice 1.
“That certainly has happened.
“I think the real focus for us is converting that now, and that’s a really interesting thing in motorsport, because you’ve got super-pro teams all around you, up and down the pit lane, who are all trying to do their best to knock you over.
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“In that respect, it comes down to little moments and little one-percenters and managing to knock those over and put yourself in contention.
“So, for us, a real focus is ‘just play your role,’ and let’s see what we can do when we get it all right on the same day, and maintain that.
“Momentum’s a funny thing in motorsport too; once you have it, you’ve got to grab it and roll with it.
“But when you don’t have it, you’re looking everywhere for it, so it’s a really interesting moment for our team and this is a cool test.”
Mostert, who this year has a new Race Engineer in Sam Scaffidi, surprised himself on the upside with a double podium at the Thrifty Bathurst 500.
He was in the mix at Albert Park, but was hurt by incidents in which he was either on the giving end or the receiving end.
In Taupo, #25 might have won the opening race if a wheel had not fallen off just after his second pit stop, before he fought back to seventh on the Sunday after dropping to 15th on the standing lap.
A test between the New Zealand trip and this weekend’s trek to Wanneroo Raceway looks to have paid dividends, although today’s competitive sessions will be the real litmus test.
Rookie Ryan Wood, who was very nearly a maiden podium finisher in WAU’s #2 Mobil 1 Truck Assist Mustang in Taupo, was 11th-quickest in Practice 1 in Perth.
Practice 2 starts this morning at 09:15 local time/11:15 AEST.
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