Sunday Wrap: Waters waltzes, stage set for enduros
Cam Waters capitalised on an opening lap mistake from Tickford teammate Thomas Randle to run away with the final sprint race of the season in Tasmania.
However, that barely scratches the surface of what was a wild encounter on the old-school bullring at Symmons Plains.
There were incidents galore, with two safety car periods, and a controversial collision saw a championship contender lose big points on the eve of the enduros.
There were several standout performances from some of the underdogs of Supercars, continuing the bizarre trend that started on Friday.
An honourable mention should be made for Nick Percat, who after starting last following a disastrous qualifying gamble, stormed to seventh, gaining 17 positions at a circuit where overtaking is notoriously difficult.
Supercars.com looks at some of the key talking points from a wild Sunday afternoon on the Apple Isle.
Tassie turns on a crazy show
With another jumbled grid, there was always the chance of drama, but few people would have seen what was to come in the next 56 minutes. After going green throughout Saturday’s race, the first Safety Car came out on lap 7 after David Reynolds was nerfed by Brodie Kostecki at the Turn 4 hairpin, with another following after Jaxon Evans’s heavy crash after colliding with Aaron Love. Following the second Safety Car, all eyes turned to the battle for second, as a wounded Will Brown soldiered on with a flat spotted tyre. Thomas Randle seemed to get the move done before Brown returned serve at the end of the back straight, allowing Broc Feeney into third. Then it all boiled over five laps from home as Randle locked up and speared into Feeney. It was a frantic sprint befitting of the bullring’s tight nature, and a memorable way to end the sprint portion of the season.
Tickford making most of two car effort
They may have had a slow start to the season after their much anticipated downsizing in the off season, but Tickford are now reaping the rewards of their streamlined two car attack. Whilst the race unravelled in a fashion even he struggled to believe, Thomas Randle’s pole today was just reward for a recent increase in speed which saw him just miss out on Saturday pole in Sydney. Randle’s clear dejection post race shows that he is desperate for that maiden win, and after a successful end to last season in Adelaide, you feel the top step of the podium isn’t far away. Randle’s heartbreak couldn’t be a more stark contrast to teammate Cam Waters’ relief, after he pieced together another brilliant weekend. Waters managed his race today to perfection, and broke the back of the chasing pack with blistering pace in the late stages. Waters slightly closed the points gap to Brown to 350 points today, and is heading to four tracks where he has starred in the past to close the season. While it may be too little too late for 2024, Waters can definitely send a big statement ahead of 2025.
Little victory in Brown’s title quest
Will Brown was able to stretch out his points margin over Chaz Mostert by 18 points today, finishing second to Mostert’s fourth. Whilst that doesn’t sound like much with 600 points on offer across the next two races, it gains more significance when you consider the context. Today was the first time since Darwin back in June that Mostert hasn’t clawed back ground on the Toowoomba product in the title fight, slowing the raging momentum the WAU star has gained over the past five races. 81 points is by no means a safe margin heading into the two biggest races of the season, but having had 216 points slashed out of his margin in the previous five races before today, any gain is significant heading into the back end of the season.
Fullwood podium caps off BJR’s breakthrough weekend
Save for Andre Heimgartner splashing his way to victory in New Zealand, it has been a rotten season for Brad Jones Racing in 2024, the Kiwi even calling it ‘confusing’. But Tasmania proved there may be light at the end of the tunnel for the Albury squad, with Bryce Fullwood claiming a well deserved podium today. Whilst he was helped by the Randle/Feeney clash ahead of him, Fullwood had legitimate pace all day, qualifying sixth and comfortably running fourth before the race was turned on its head. It is only the second podium of the 2019 Super2 champion’s career, his first since Tailem Bend in 2020. Fullwood wasn’t the only BJR car to have a competitive day, with Heimgartner climbing up six places to finish sixth. All four BJR cars even featured in the top ten in Practice 3, although there will be serious work to do on Jaxon Evans’ crunched Camaro before Sandown. Any difficult season would be quickly forgotten with a big result at Bathurst, something Brad Jones has been craving for so long, watch for the Albury boys to potentially spring a surprise.
The stage is set for the run home
It feels ironic that the longest races of the season are the first leg of the sprint home in the 2024 Repco Supercars Championship. All of the jockeying for position in the first eight events of the season have set us up for the brutal four event campaign that is set to decide the 2024 champion across Sandown, Bathurst, the Gold Coast, and Adelaide. Any mistake will be punished severely across the back end of the season; mistakes at Sandown and Bathurst will be punished by the sheer weight of points on offer, whilst mistakes at the Gold Coast and Adelaide will be punished by the unforgiving concrete. Will Brown takes an 81 point lead into the enduro season over Chaz Mostert, whilst Broc Feeney’s disastrous day now sees him enter Sandown 198 points behind his teammate. Waters is next, 350 points off Brown, while Matt Payne is almost certainly out of the picture 561 points behind Brown. The next two rounds bring in the added variable of co-drivers, with Scott Pye, Lee Holdsworth, and Jamie Whincup all finding themselves with key roles to play in the title fight. Whatever the next chapter of the championship looks like, it’s set to be an unforgettable conclusion to the 2024 season.
