WAU 2024 season review: Superb speed, but errors costly
As 2024 winds down, Supercars.com is looking over all 11 teams and their performances in this year's Repco Supercars Championship, continuing with Walkinshaw Andretti United.
Walkinshaw Andretti United took a huge step forward in 2024, making Chaz Mostert a championship contender.
With three wins, two pole positions and 11 podiums, Mostert put together one of his best seasons in Supercars, and arguably his most significant championship challenge. Mostert turned a 279-point deficit to eventual champion Will Brown after Round 5 to be just 81 points behind heading to the enduros. However, he ceded 228 points over the next three rounds.
Ultimately, mistakes and poor luck ensured Mostert couldn't take the fight to the final round. The rap sheet was long, and painful; there were driving errors, Mostert penalised for hitting Matt Payne out of the lead at the Grand Prix, and Lee Holdsworth spinning at Sandown.
The team's wobbles were damaging; Mostert lost a wheel in Taupō, lost a Perth win over an unsafe release, had no one-lap pace on the Super Soft in Darwin, was undone on a self-described "diabolical" day at Sandown, and was cruelled by a gear position sensor issue and refuelling error in Surfers Paradise. In the final Adelaide race, Mostert was forced into a pit lane start with a clutch issue.
The superstar driver had 18 finishes of seventh or better in 24 starts, and was recognised by peers and officials with the Jim Richards Award, Barry Sheene Medal and Drivers' Driver.
Another positive was the progression of rookie Ryan Wood, who bounced back from a Round 1 double-DNF to claim a front row in Perth, several top 10 finishes, and make Shootout starts.
Walkinshaw Andretti United: 2024 season results and head-to-heads
Drivers' finish: Chaz Mostert 3rd, Ryan Wood 16th
Teams' finish: 3rd
Best result: 1st (Chaz Mostert, Perth Race 9, Sydney Race 15, Sydney Race 16)
Qualifying head to head: Chaz Mostert 22, Ryan Wood 2
Race head to head: Chaz Mostert 21, Ryan Wood 3
What’s next in 2025?
WAU enters 2025 with an unchanged driver line-up, and renewed optimism it can fight for the title again.
Put simply, WAU cannot afford to make the same mistakes it did this year. Mostert hit form that could easily have delivered a championship, but he had to settle for third.
Looking at its chief rival, Triple Eight didn't always have the fastest car, but didn't drop points often. Looking back, losing wheels and putting wrong fuel rigs in seems pedestrian for a team of WAU's calibre, but that's the pressure that comes with fighting for championships. Every team makes mistakes, but for WAU, they always seemed to come at the pivotal moment.
It's going to be a massive season, not only on the track, but off it too. While fighting for wins and titles, WAU will be looking to 2026 as it prepares to welcome Toyota to the championship. WAU has long chased homologation team status, and now it has it. Can it dovetail that responsibility with a championship challenge?
