Winner Waters relieved after early-season dramas

A wheel off in Bathurst. A crash fighting for the lead in Melbourne. Taken out off the line from pole in New Zealand.

Cam Waters has been through it all in 2024, and it’s only May.

However, with victory on Sunday, the Tickford Racing driver was delighted to finally have the motorsport gods on his side after returning to form in Perth.

Waters scored the Race 10 win thanks to a penalty for former teammate Chaz Mostert, who was pinged over an unsafe release on Thomas Randle.

“It's been such a shit start to the year. It's awesome to get a few trophies this weekend and get the win in that race,” said Waters, who will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut before the next round in Darwin.

"We had really good car speed. I don't know what happened at lap 1 at Turn 7. I don't know if there was stuff on the track or whatever, but we kept our head down.

“We had a really fast car at the end there when it was lighter and managed to close the gap on Chazzy. Bad luck to Chazzy with obviously the five-second penalty."

The result was redemption for the Mildura-born star after missing out on a win in similar circumstances in 2022, when he was penalised over a Turn 7 incident with Will Davison.

"Well, it was only, two or three years ago I lost a race for a five-second penalty, so it's good to get one back,” Waters said.

“As soon as the guys said Chaz had a five-second penalty, it was head down and qualifying laps for the rest of the race, and just tried to get that gap down so I could be a little bit safe towards the end there.

“We had an awesome car on that last stint. Can't thank everyone at the team enough for grinding away this year. It's been a hard slog. We win and lose together, and I wouldn't want to be with any other team.

Heading into Sunday’s race, Waters had three poles from 10 attempts, but little to show for it in the races, having arrived in Perth in 15th overall.

In one fell swoop, Waters gained 11 positions in the championship and, critically, has trophies to show for it.

When asked if it was satisfying to unlock consistency, Waters replied: "We've just been up and down a little bit this year and a little bit of that is searching for that next bit that we need.

“Sometimes you take a step backwards, you take two steps forward. I feel like this weekend, it's started to come together."

The 2024 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the betr Darwin Triple Crown on June 14-16. Tickets for the event are on sale now.