Chaz Mostert has dominated the opening race of the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 to complete a superb comeback for the Walkinshaw Andretti United crew following a disappointing Repco Bathurst 1000.
Mostert avoiding a pit lane drama early to secure a 7.6s victory from Repco Sprint Cup winner Broc Feeney and Penrite Racing’s Kai Allen after his crew pulled off a successful mid-race fuel conservation strategy to score the final podium spot.
Earlier, Brodie Kostecki’s crash in Qualifying rendered his Saturday done as the Shell V-Power Racing Team work overnight to desperately get his Ford Mustang repaired.
Nick Percat was another to not line-up on the grid due to a starter motor failure, but started the race from pit lane.
Red Bull Ampol Racing successfully completed the repair of Will Brown’s Chevrolet Camaro as he lined up 10th on the grid.
Mostert also had troubles prior to the start due to a driveline problem requiring the Walkinshaw Andretti United crew to change a transaxle before the event.
Wood made a textbook start and led the way from Feeney into the opening chicane, but pressure came at the Turn 4 hairpin leading to a solid defence.
Behind, the Finals play began when Reynolds let teammate De Pasquale through as behind, a clash between Brown and Kai Allen resulted in the Red Bull Ampol Racing Camaro spinning to the back of the field.
Wood began to edge away until dramas struck when fuel began to leak out from the fuel cell due to a loose clip and the young New Zealander dropped seven laps following the whole ordeal.
A safety car was called on lap 12 due to a loose advertising hoarding leading to the first pit stops, but Mostert was held up when a double-stacking Allen blocked his exit, while teammate Payne collided with the side of the Optus Mobil 1 Racing Mustang. This led to a 15s penalty for the Penrite Racing Bathurst winner.
All this kerfuffle allowed Monster Castrol Racing’s Cam waters to jump into second behind Feeney after Wood had dropped out.
Another to keep a watch on was Brown due to a climb to 15th after the stops, but another safety car immediately followed after the restart.
Erebus Motorsport’s Cooper Murray clashed with Aaron Cameron at Turn 4 as both carried damage. Cameron’s Blanchard Racing Team Mustang endured a wheel problem, while Murray made contact at the Beach Chicane with the unforgiving concrete and ripped the right-rear wheel off his Camaro.
SCT Motorsport’s Jaxon Evans was the unlucky driver to make contact with the loose wheel.
Feeney led away at the restart and made a slight error at Turn 4, which invited Waters to have a crack at the Beach Chicane. However, the safety car was back out after Mostert had dislodged a tyre bundle at Turn 1.
Allen led a few drivers to pit for fuel to set-up a successful run of the podium.
On the fourth restart of the race, Feeney led from Waters and soon gapped his Finals rival, who led Mostert, Payne and James Courtney.
It was Mostert making a successful pass at Turn 12 to snatch second and his pace was emphasised when he began to catch Feeney.
Payne began the second run of stops for the leaders, but had to serve his 15s penalty to drop him close to a lap behind.
Finals contender De Pasquale endured a slow stop when the left-rear struggled to be fitted and the refuelling hose was still attached when the Camaro was dropped leading to a penalty post-race.
Brown was back inside the top 10 and avoided a penalty for contact with Will Davison, but came a cropper when attempting to lap Cameron, who had left-front damage and was limping to the end.
Mostert was the first of the leaders to pit for the final time as Allen’s strategy came into play following mass-fuel save and conserving his Dunlop Super-Softs.
Allen along with Reynolds and Percat were following the same strategy allowing the trio to jump the leaders when the pit sequence occurred.
But Mostert’s pace was too irresistible and he overhauled all to take a dominant win from Feeney, Allen, Waters and Brown.
Sixth was De Pasquale from Courtney, André Heimgartner, Thomas Randle and Payne.
Racing on the Gold Coast continues on Sunday for the Repco Supercars Championship with Qualifying at 10:00am AEST/11:00am AEDT before a Top 10 Shootout and Race 29.
Randle, Kostecki and Wood are in the Final knockout zone approaching Sunday’s action.