Mostert's bid to bury unwanted Bend record

Chaz Mostert is this weekend armed with three shots to bury an unwanted record at The Bend Motorsport Park.

The Walkinshaw Andretti United driver arrives in South Australia for the OTR SuperSprint with strong form at The Bend.

Mostert has scored five podiums at The Bend, which debuted in Supercars in 2018. Only Shane van Gisbergen (nine) and Scott McLaughlin (seven) have more.

Critically, none of Mostert’s five podiums are victories, even though he has long been one of the best at The Bend.

Mostert finished on the podium in both races at the 2019 event, which were won by the dominant McLaughlin.

His move to WAU and Holden didn’t slow him down, with Mostert second behind Andre Heimgartner in 2021, having scored a pole in 2020.

Last year, Mostert scored two more podiums as van Gisbergen swept all three races.

Two podiums in 2019

It's not to say Mostert hasn't had luck in South Australia, with the WAU star taking an emotional victory in the first leg of last year's Adelaide 500.

The Bend has proven a tricky track to master; only seven drivers have won there — McLaughlin and van Gisbergen lead the way with five wins, with Cam Waters the only other multiple winner.

Heimgartner, Jamie Whincup, Fabian Coulthard and Anton De Pasquale are the other winners.

Mostert, who is fifth in the championship, is excited to return to a happy hunting ground, even if wins have proven elusive.

“I’m pumped for this weekend, we have had some great success at this track in the past which we are looking to repeat,” he said.

“Qualifying is a big focus for us this weekend, we need to be starting up front to be in the fight for the top step of the podium.

“It will be interesting to see how these Gen3 cars handle the high-speed track this weekend.”

Mostert will hit the track for the first time at The Bend for Practice 1 on Saturday morning. Tickets on sale now.