Mostert: Track position key to Bathurst result
Track position, or lack thereof, proved key in Chaz Mostert’s failed bid to secure back-to-back Bathurst wins.
Mostert and Fabian Coulthard finished second in Sunday’s Repco Bathurst 1000.
The 161-lap race featured eight BP Ultimate Safety Cars, setting up a thrilling Shane van Gisbergen/Mostert showdown to the flag.
Mostert was unable to overhaul eventual winner van Gisbergen, who combined with Garth Tander to claim their second Bathurst victory together.
The #25 Mobil 1 Optus Racing Commodore suffered a problem with the rear roll bar adjuster for the first half of the race.
Track position proved vital as Mostert struggled in dirty air behind Brodie Kostecki, with van Gisbergen racing up the road.
WAU fixed the issue with 80 laps remaining, and Mostert jumped Kostecki in the final stops.
Despite it being Mostert’s third consecutive Great Race podium, the two-time Bathurst winner was left wanting.
“The race kind of panned out the way it did for us,” Mostert said.
“We wanted to do very similar to last year and be fresh on the way home, but we just didn't quite have the track position this year.
“A few little things about our day didn't quite go to plan.
“The car was super quick at the end of the race, but probably for the first 80-odd laps I think it the car was quite compromised.
“Once the car came back to life in the last 80 laps, but we just had no track position and had to put our head down and dig our heels in.”
The van Gisbergen/Mostert/Waters shootout for victory began with 14 laps remaining after the final Safety Car.
Mostert applied pressure to the series leader, but van Gisbergen responded with the fastest lap of the race on lap 151.
The two Holden drivers went punch for punch, but a slide at Hell Corner on lap 154 all but ended Mostert’s charge.
Mostert was unable to pass the series leader, and crossed the line with a 1.09s margin.
It was WAU’s sixth straight year on the Bathurst podium.
“These cars are quite hard to overtake sitting behind other people, even though you might have a half a second advantage around round here,” Mostert added.
“It pretty much brings you back to on par with someone, so racing someone like Brodie, I knew we had a better car, but in the dirty air, we really struggled.
“Shane was probably a little bit quicker than those guys, and I tried my hardest, but just came up short.”
Mostert moved to fourth in the points thanks to Will Davison's DNF.
The 2022 season will continue at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 on October 28-30.
