Waters denies Mostert, Brown in thrilling qualifying

Cam Waters has claimed his third pole of 2024, with the top four covered by just 0.08s in a dramatic Boost Mobile Qualifying session in Perth.

A day after claiming his first podium of the season, Waters denied Chaz Mostert a pole sweep by just 0.0312s, with Will Brown just 0.0423s behind. Brown is in the box seat to extend his championship again, with teammate Broc Feeney only 12th.

Ryan Wood qualified fourth, some 0.0804s behind, but will start seventh after being penalised for impeding Mark Winterbottom in Q1.

"It's so tight between the top four cars,” said Waters, who jumped from 15th to eighth in the championship on Saturday.

“So, super rapt to get a pole for today. We had a speedy car yesterday, not quite quick enough to beat Chazzy.

“But the boys and girls at Tickford have done an amazing job overnight and found me a little bit of car speed. So hopefully that converts into the race as well."

It was Waters’s third pole in the last six races, and his first at CARCO.com.au Raceway since he claimed his maiden Supercars pole in 2016.

Wood’s penalty promoted to Thomas Randle, Brodie Kostecki and Will Davison, with Anton De Pasquale, David Reynolds and Tim Slade rounding out the top 10.

Q1

Bryce Fullwood set a 54.8862s for the field to chase, with Kostecki behind with a 54.9458s. Davison moved to second with a 54.9322s, and lowered the benchmark to a 54.9469s on his second push lap.

Brown and Feeney hadn't set a lap with five minutes left on the clock, but jumped to seventh and second respectively as the session wound down.

Wood, meanwhile, was 24th and powered to fourth with a 54.9310s, but immediately bowled a wide at Turn 1. On the rejoin, Wood impeded Winterbottom, attracting a penalty and leaving the Team 18 veteran fuming.

Winterbottom was eliminated along with James Courtney, Jack Le Brocq and Macauley Jones, with Slade securing a Q2 berth in 20th.

Q2

The biggest story of Q2 was Feeney, who missed Q3 and was consigned to a grid spot of 12th. The Triple Eight driver ran as high as third, but was bumped out of the top 10 as he failed to improve.

Behind him, Penrite Racing duo Matt Payne and Richie Stanaway were only 16th and 17th, with Percat another scalp in 18th.

Davison ultimately set the pace with a 54.6004s, ahead of Brown, teammate De Pasquale, Waters and Kostecki, with Mostert and Wood seventh and eighth.

Q3

Davison, Mostert, Waters and Wood led an all-Ford top four after the first runs, ahead of Brown and Kostecki. Slade and Randle, meanwhile, hadn't set a lap.

The margin between Davison and Waters was just 0.0840s, before Brown lowered the benchmark to a 54.5968s to claim provisional pole.

As the Shell V-Power Racing Team opted to keep Davison in the garage, Waters turned up the wick and clocked a 54.5545s, with Wood going to third with a 54.6385s

Mostert, who won Saturday's race from pole, split Waters and Brown with a 54.5857s to make an all-Ford front row, with Wood, Randle and Kostecki behind.

Supercars will return to the track on Sunday for the final 55-lap race of the weekend, Race 10, at 3:45pm AWST/5:45pm AEST.

International viewers can follow all the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint action on Superview. Tickets for the event are on sale now.