Waters wins, Randle hits Feeney in chaotic Tasmania finale

Cam Waters has taken out an action-packed NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint finale, which was headlined by a dramatic clash between Thomas Randle and Broc Feeney.

Waters cruised to his third win of the season over championship leader Will Brown, with Bryce Fullwood a shock third for Brad Jones Racing in a race that featured two Safety Car periods.

Chaz Mostert was the biggest winner, surviving a lowly grid spot of 11th to come home fourth. Heading to Sandown, Brown leads Mostert by 81 points.

However, the biggest story was the plight of Feeney, who drops to 198 points adrift of his teammate after a botched Randle overtake attempt at the hairpin.

After losing third to Feeney after an attack on Brown, pole-sitter Randle tried to get his place back, only to send the #88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro into a spin and down the order.

Jack Le Brocq and Andre Heimgartner were sixth and seventh, with Saturday winner Nick Percat powering from 24th and last to seventh. Ryan Wood, Mark Winterbottom and Tim Slade rounded out the top 10.

"I'm so happy to get the win," said Waters in PIRTEK Victory Lane.

"I got a good start and so did Tommy, and he fought hard for Turn 1 which was fine, and he just made a little mistake at Turn 4 and ran wide, but I'm gutted for him, he probably should be up here on the podium with me.

"I was just trying to keep a small gap to Will and trying to let him cook his tyres, and I knew Tommy was in there, and with 20 to go I started to push on.

"I tried to break the tow for Will and make it easier for Tom, I'm not really sure what happened to him."

Randle led Waters through Turn 1, before the pole-sitter bowled a wide at the hairpin. As Waters rounded the field through Turn 6, Hill ran off the road, with Brodie Kostecki hounding David Reynolds for fourth.

The bubble burst between the two Camaro drivers as Kostecki sent Reynolds into a spin at the hairpin on lap 7. With Reynolds stuck on the grass, the bp pulse Safety Car was deployed for the first time.

Waters led the field into pit lane, and Randle emerged behind Brown as the pole man was forced to double stack. Behind them, Kostecki was released into the path of Winterbottom, and was forced into the garage with damage.

Kostecki’s day quickly went from bad to worse, with the reigning champion handed a 15-second penalty over the contact, and drive-throughs over pit lane speed and the Winterbottom release.

Reynolds and Matt Payne were also handed drive-throughs for disobeying the pit exit red light, with Reynolds coming to a stop at the pit exit apron at Turn 2. Payne, who stopped one lap after the field, was forced to stop behind Reynolds.

Waters led the field to green on lap 11, with Brown, Randle, Fullwood, Feeney, Le Brocq, Heimgartner, Mostert, Slade and Will Davison rounding out the top 10.

The action resumed immediately; Feeney hit Fullwood into Turn 1, helping Le Brocq past. At the end of the lap, Mostert fought past Heimgartner into seventh through Turn 7.

At the front of the race, Brown chased Waters, but the Tickford driver opened the margin to 0.7s by lap 16 as Randle began to reel in the championship leader.

However, the race was neutralised for a second time on lap 19, when rookies Jaxon Evans and Aaron Love tripped over each other down the pit straight. Love survived but was penalised, while Evans' SCT Logistics Camaro clouted the concrete.

Waters bolted as the race restarted on lap 25, but Brown didn’t let the Tickford Mustang get away. Behind them, Feeney pounced on Le Brocq for fifth at the hairpin on lap 34. Two laps later, Mostert caught and passed Le Brocq at Turn 6.

With 15 laps to go, Feeney swept past Fullwood into fourth, but had 2.2s to find on Randle, who was just 0.5s behind Brown. With 11 laps to go, Randle made his move at the hairpin, but surfed through the grass through Turn 7 as Brown returned serve.

As Randle remonstrated over the radio, Feeney sailed past into third; all the while, Waters benefited and opened his lead to three seconds.

Feeney caught his teammate, but was unable to get past. With the bit between his teeth, Randle tried to fight back, only to send Feeney into a spin and down the order. Randle was hit with a 15-second penalty, with Feeney plummeting to 16th.

It did little to deter Waters, who cruised home ahead of Brown to the tune of six seconds, with Fullwood securing his first podium of the season.

Randle crossed the line sixth, but was reclassified to 18th, with Feeney 15th. Randle did set the fastest lap, but didn’t take home the bonus points due to finishing outside the top 15.

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