Analysis: The laps that paved the way to Mostert's sweep
Twice in two days, Chaz Mostert put on a clinic in Sydney to hunt down and overtake rivals to win at Sydney Motorsport Park.
On Saturday, Mostert wiped away a 15-second deficit to the one-stopping Matt Payne to claim his second win of the season, before quickly eating into a 10-second margin to pass Cam Waters and Will Brown on Sunday.
The one-stoppers had it all to do, given the tyre-killing nature of Sydney Motorsport Park. Aided by cooler conditions on Saturday night, Payne held on until the final four laps, before Mostert rounded him up at Turn 2.
Come Sunday, and Waters and Brown were powerless to hold off Mostert, who again made the passes stick before cruising home to victory.
The strategy
Mostert stopped on lap 33 on both races, setting up an 18-lap run home. Payne stopped on lap 23 on Saturday, with Waters on lap 24 and Brown on lap 25 on Sunday.
Mostert shadowed Thomas Randle and Waters for the first 16 laps of Saturday's race, with Mostert passing Waters for second on lap 11. Payne, who spun in the Shootout, quickly worked his way to sixth by the time the leaders began to pit. Randle and Mostert stopped on lap 16, with Mostert emerging ahead.
Mostert stopped again on lap 33 on Saturday, with Payne cycling back to the lead on lap 36. By then, the margin was 14.5s, with Mostert wiping it away in 12 laps.
Come Sunday, and Mostert took the lead from pole-sitter Will Davison and led comfortably, before stopping on lap 15. Waters and Brown pressed on, with Mostert cycling back to the lead on lap 26.
Such was Mostert's pace on Sunday, that he wiped away nine seconds to Waters, while passing Brown and Richie Stanaway, in seven laps.
The winning laps
There was a seven-lap difference between Mostert's first stop and Payne's only stop on Saturday, and 10 laps between Mostert's first stop and Waters' stop on Sunday.
The undercut was always going to be significant, but Mostert still had a stop to do on both days. On both days, Mostert laid down 1:31s laps in pursuit, as Payne battled to stay in the 1:32s on Saturday, while Waters and Brown hung on on Sunday.
On both days, Mostert nailed three consecutive 1:31s laps. On Sunday, the effect was truly felt, with Waters and Brown stuck in the 1:33s as the WAU Ford rapidly closed in.
Race 15
Lap | Mostert | Payne | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
34 | Out lap | 1:32.9028 | -15.5s |
35 | 1:32.2773 | 1:32.8616 | -15.4s |
36 | 1:32.0226 | 1:32.9037 | -14.5s |
37 | 1:31.5699 | 1:32.7358 | -13.5s |
38 | 1:31.6893 | 1:32.9719 | -12.7s |
39 | 1:31.8689 | 1:33.0150 | -11.4s |
40 | 1:32.1740 | 1:33.1540 | -9.9s |
41 | 1:32.3324 | 1:33.5878 | -8.7s |
42 | 1:32.3406 | 1:33.6917 | -8.2s |
43 | 1:32.6184 | 1:34.0355 | -6.5s |
44 | 1:32.9288 | 1:34.0310 | -5.1s |
45 | 1:32.9415 | 1:33.9916 | -4.3s |
46 | 1:33.0122 | 1:34.3676 | -3.3s |
47 | 1:33.4728 | 1:34.6958 | -1.8s |
48 | 1:34.4812 | 1:35.9970 | -0.7s |
Race 16
Lap | Mostert | Waters | Brown | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
34 | Out lap | 1:33.4011 | 1:32.9145 | -9.2s |
35 | 1:31.3020 | 1:33.2899 | 1:33.2229 | -7.4s |
36 | 1:31.7958 | 1:33.2908 | 1:33.8008 | -5.9s |
37 | 1:31.7488 | 1:33.2856 | 1:33.5973 | -4.4s |
38 | 1:32.2254 | 1:33.3741 | 1:33.4054 | -3.2s |
39 | 1:32.3142 | 1:33.7679 | 1:33.8558 | -1.7s |
40 | 1:32.3493 | 1:34.0101 | 1:33.3394 | -0.1s |
A winning combination
The likes of Payne, Waters and Brown are no slouches; rather, along with Mostert, they are the cream of the crop in Supercars at the moment. But in Sydney, Mostert was the clear benchmark.
There's no doubt Walkinshaw Andretti United has turned a corner with car pace in 2024, with Mostert competitive at every round so far. Even in Darwin, when WAU was woeful in qualifying, the team managed to extract performance and deliver a result on the Saturday, at least.
For Mostert, who is engineered by Sam Scaffidi, it all comes down to a renewed effort on the race car in '24
“If I go back to 2015, it was one of those things where we were just like, ‘Oh, we're getting the results we want. Let's just leave it alone. Let's give it a polish and go from there'. And next you just get passed," the two-time Bathurst winner said.
“For us, it's important to keep being aggressive, keep being harsh on those comments of what the car needs to do to go better. And that's all I'm focussed on myself, trying to make sure I give as much feedback as I can.
“We go to a different track, a different style, all these different things, you've got different problems every weekend you're trying to capitalise. This weekend we pushed hard and got the chocolates."
The 2024 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint on August 16-18. Tickets for the event are on sale now.
Live coverage can be found on Foxtel, with live streaming available on Kayo. Highlights will be shown on the Seven Network and 7plus. International viewers can follow all the action on Superview.
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