Taking win number four for the season, Chaz Mostert’s victory in yesterday’s final Repco Supercars encounter at Darwin proved redemption after disqualification from Saturday’s opening race.
In an improved performance compared to Winton, Mostert won a chaotic final encounter to ensure the title race is far from over as championship leader Shane van Gisbergen had a dismal race in 21st.
It followed a day of bitter disappointment when the reigning Bathurst winner was disqualified after an air blower was fitted to the front of his Walkinshaw Andretti United ZB Commodore on the grid prior to the commencement of the opening race.
This is not allowed under Supercars regulations, with an artificial device to vary temperature of a car not to be used on the grid. Driver cooling is permitted.
Walkinshaw Andretti United Team Principal Bruce Stewart stated on Sunday it was a case of moving on from the situation as the team appealed the decision, which was later rejected by Motorsport Australia.
“First and foremost, clearly a difficult day,” Stewart told Fox Sports.
“Really tough for the fans, for the partners, and for our team, who are working really hard.
“At this stage, we don’t want to go any further into it. We’re not going to discuss it any further for our team and for everyone involved.
“We’re just eyes forward focusing on today to get the best result we can and then deal with everything later next week.”
However, Mostert’s pace improved across Sunday’s running to be eighth in Race 2 before winning the final event in what were exciting scenes as strategy provided the difference in the end.
“You have got to be aggressive in these sprint races if you want to try to be able to get a trophy, or a didgeridoo this weekend,” said Mostert.
“I didn’t think we would win the race doing what we did but I would have thought more people would have followed me in to cover me off, but they let me do my own race… then I just had to hang on at the end.”
Mostert is sixth in the standings as the Repco Supercars Championship heads back north to Townsville on July 8-10.