Mostert/Owen victorious as title rivals hit trouble

Chaz Mostert and Steve Owen combined to deliver victory after an eventful run to the flag in treacherous wet conditions at the Vodafone Gold Coast 600.

The race could prove a significant moment in the championship race as the pole-sitters took advantage of drama that hit three of the five title contenders.

Owen led the early laps from pole before losing the lead to a fast starting Freightliner Racing Commodore of Tim Slade and Andre Heimgartner, with the latter at the wheel.

The Supercheap Ford dropped to fifth after heavy contact from Paul Dumbrell (#88 Red Bull Holden) in the opening stint, but bounced back following a Safety Car on Lap 55, caused by Lee Holdsworth (Preston Hire Racing).

THE FINAL RACE OF THE 2023 REPCO SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP ON ONE OF THE WORLD’S BEST STREET CIRCUITS.
GO ALL IN AT THE VAILO ADELAIDE 500, CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

Mostert surged by Prodrive team-mate Cameron Waters, who emerged in the lead on the restart, before taking a comfortable victory in a time certain finish.

Waters settled for second having been aided by a stunning stint from co-driver Richie Stanaway, who climbed to second from 14th on the grid.

Slade brought the Brad Jones Racing Holden home in third after its healthy lead was wiped out following a jack issue in the pits, that held up the left rear tyre change.

Shane van Gisbergen (Red Bull Holden) produced a sterling drive to recover from ninth to fourth in the final stint, while team-mate Jamie Whincup slid back to sixth, having run third for large parts of the opening stint.

Whincup had to recover from a 15 second penalty for contact on Owen instigated by co-driver Dumbrell.

Worse was to befall the Shell V-Power Racing Fords as Scott McLaughlin finished 12th after Alex Premat spun the Falcon on lap five and dropped to the rear of the field.

Championship leader Fabian Coulthard was handed a 15 second penalty for tagging Nick Percat (Brad Jones Racing) that dropped him from 10th to 19th position.

Coulthard continues to lead the championship by 37 points with just 121 covering the top four.

The vast majority of teams elected to put co-drivers in for the start as the rain intensified on the grid.

Owen led the field away from the start with Dumbrell second and Heimgartner following closely third.

The opening laps were devoid of drama until Premat’s moment at Turn 11, when he checked up and lost the rear behind a slower train of cars.

He continued despite being collected by Luke Youlden (Erebus Motorsport)and Macauley Jones (Brad Jones Racing).

Meanwhile, at the front Heimgartner produced a stunning opening stint which saw him pass Dumbrell and then take the lead from Owen on lap 8.

Prodrive duo Stanaway and Garry Jacobson also lit up the timing screens as they surged from 14th and 22nd into the top six before the latter pitted for fuel on lap 16.

As Heimgartner extended his lead to 18 seconds, there was plenty of action behind when Dumbrell made contact with Owen at the first chicane, leaving the Ford briefly broadside on the track.

Stanaway took advantage to climb to second behind Heimgartner before the first round of pit stops at one third distance.

Slade took over the Brad Jones Holden from Heimgartner with a 19s lead over Waters, while the out-of-sequence Jacobson moved to third.

Nissan Motorsport’s Michael Caruso emerged in fourth ahead of Mostert, who passed Whincup following his 15s penalty during the first stop.

Title contenders van Gisbergen emerged in 11th after Campbell’s stint with Coulthard a net 10th and McLaughlin in 17th.

The race was neutralised with 52 minutes remaining when the Safety Car was deployed when Holdsworth punted the tyre bundle onto the race track at the beachside chicane.

The stoppage triggered the second round of pit stops and a crucial moment in the race.

Leader Slade rejoined in third after a pit stop drama while Waters assumed the lead from Mostert.

Mostert quickly emerged as the pacesetter on the restart and it wasn’t long before he passed Waters for the lead, where he stayed until the chequered flag.

Waters finished second ahead of Slade, while Caruso brought the #23 Nissan home in a fine fifth.

Craig Lowndes and Steve Richards finished seventh, while the top 10 was completed by Mark Winterbottom/Dean Canto (Prodrive), Jason Bright/Jacobson (Prodrive) and Rick Kelly and David Wall (Nissan Motorsport).

The Todd Kelly/Jack Le Brocq Nissan retired on lap 45 after suffering extensive damage to the front and rear, following a collision with Garth Tander (Garry Rogers Mototsport) at Turn 2.

Holdsworth also joined the list of retirements along wth the #3 of Aaren Russell and Taz Douglas.

Results: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship Vodafone Gold Coast 600 Race 21

1	Supercheap Auto Racing	C.Mostert/S.Owen	Ford Falcon FG/X	94	2:18:28.8455
2	Monster Energy Racing	C.Waters/R.Stanaway	Ford Falcon FG/X	94	2:18:31.3371
3	Freightliner Racing	T.Slade/A.Heimgartner	Holden Commodore VF	94	2:18:34.3846
4	Red Bull Holden Racing Aust	S.Van Gisbergen/M.Campbell	Holden Commodore VF	94	2:18:35.8496
5	Nissan Motorsport	M.Caruso/D.Fiore	Nissan Altima	94	2:18:50.1168
6	Red Bull Holden Racing Aust	J.Whincup/P.Dumbrell	Holden Commodore VF	94	2:18:55.7320
7	TeamVortex	C.Lowndes/S.Richards	Holden Commodore VF	94	2:18:57.1129
8	The Bottle-O Racing Team	M.Winterbottom/D.Canto	Ford Falcon FG/X	94	2:19:12.2115
9	MEGA Racing	J.Bright/G.Jacobson	Ford Falcon FG/X	94	2:19:16.3956
10	Sengled Racing	R.Kelly/D.Wall	Nissan Altima	94	2:19:17.6218
11	Mobil 1 HSV Racing	S.Pye/W.Luff	Holden Commodore VF	94	2:19:17.9917
12	Shell V-Power Racing Team	S.McLaughlin/A.Premat	Ford Falcon FG/X	94	2:19:18.8936
13	Wilson Security Racing GRM	G.Tander/J.Golding	Holden Commodore VF	94	2:19:20.1672
14	Mobil 1 HSV Racing	J.Courtney/J.Perkins	Holden Commodore VF	94	2:19:20.5574
15	Team CoolDrive	T.Blanchard/T.Hazelwood	Holden Commodore VF	94	2:19:29.1644
16	Team Harvey Norman	S.De Silvestro/D.Russell	Nissan Altima	94	2:19:29.1736
17	Erebus Penrite Racing	D.Reynolds/L.Youlden	Holden Commodore VF	94	2:19:29.5120
18	Wilson Security Racing GRM	J.Moffat/R.Muscat	Holden Commodore VF	94	2:19:31.5112
19	Shell V-Power Racing Team	F.Coulthard/T.D’Alberto	Ford Falcon FG/X	94	2:19:31.7731
20	TEKNO Woodstock Racing	W.Davison/J.Webb	Holden Commodore VF	94	2:19:34.4090
21	Boost Mobile	N.Percat/M.Jones	Holden Commodore VF	94	2:19:42.9907
22	Erebus GB Galvanizing Racing	D.Wood/C.Pither	Holden Commodore VF	94	2:19:58.3916
23	Repair Management Aust Racing	A.Rullo/A.Davison	Holden Commodore VF	92	2:19:27.4290
DNF	Preston Hire Racing	L.Holdsworth/K.Reindler	Holden Commodore VF	58	1:25:49.2422
DNF	Plus Fitness Racing	A.Russell/T.Douglas	Holden Commodore VF	48	1:11:36.3547
DNF	carsales Racing	T.Kelly/J.Le Brocq	Nissan Altima	45	1:05:34.5852

Championship points

1	Fabian Coulthard	2479
2	Jamie Whincup	2442
3	Scott McLaughlin	2403
4	Chaz Mostert	2358
5	Shane Van Gisbergen	2262
6	David Reynolds	1857
7	Craig Lowndes	1830
8	Cameron Waters	1816
9	Garth Tander	1776
10	Mark Winterbottom	1761
11	Scott Pye	1438
12	Michael Caruso	1416
13	Tim Slade	1410
14	Rick Kelly	1362
15	Will Davison	1323
16	James Moffat	1278
17	Lee Holdsworth	1269
18	Todd Kelly	1243
19	Jason Bright	1227
20	James Courtney	1218
21	Nick Percat	1137
22	Tim Blanchard	1026
23	Dale Wood	984
24	Simona De Silvestro	891
25	Alex Rullo	594
26	James Golding	570
27	Steve Owen	564
28	Richie Stanaway	552
29	Tony D’Alberto	528
30	Luke Youlden	462
31	Matthew Campbell	462
32	Jack Le Brocq	441
33	Warren Luff	432
34	Chris Pither	411
35	Dean Fiore	405
36	Paul Dumbrell	396
37	Steven Richards	384
38	Garry Jacobson	360
39	Alexandre Premat	345
40	David Wall	336
41	Jack Perkins	315
42	Jonathon Webb	309
43	Taz Douglas	306
44	Andre Heimgartner	297
45	Alex Davison	297
46	Todd Hazelwood	288
47	Macauley Jones	267
48	Dean Canto	258
49	Richard Muscat	243
50	Karl Reindler	180
51	Aaren Russell	177
52	David Russell	159
53	Shae Davies	153
54	Cameron McConville	81
55	Matthew Brabham	57
56	Ashley Walsh	0

Pirtek Enduro Cup: After Race 21

1	Chaz Mostert/Steve Owen	564
2	Cameron Waters/Richie Stanaway	552
3	Fabian Coulthard/Tony D’Alberto	528
4	David Reynolds/Luke Youlden	462
4	Shane van Gisbergen/Matthew Campbell	462
6	Scott Pye/Warren Luff	432
7	Dale Wood/Chris Pither	411
8	Garth Tander/James Golding	408
9	Michael Caruso/Dean Fiore	405
10	Jamie Whincup/Paul Dumbrell	396
11	Craig Lowndes/Steven Richards	384
12	Jason Bright/Garry Jacobson	360
13	Scott McLaughlin/Alexandre Prémat	345
14	Rick Kelly/David Wall	336
15	James Courtney/Jack Perkins	315
16	Will Davison/Jonathon Webb	309
17	Todd Kelly/Jack Le Brocq	306
18	Tim Slade/Andre Heimgartner	297
19	Mark Winterbottom/Dean Canto	258
20	James Moffat/Richard Muscat	243
21	Tim Blanchard/Todd Hazelwood	198
22	Lee Holdsworth/Karl Reindler	180
23	Simona De Silvestro/David Russell	159
24	Alex Rullo/Alex Davison	156
25	Nick Percat/Macauley Jones	120
26	Aaren Russell/Taz Douglas	108