Waters 'dirty' after costly error on crucial points day

Cam Waters has been left to rue a critical error during the first segment of Boost Mobile Qualifying for Race 21 at the NTI Townsville 500 that has left him well down the starting grid.

After qualifying and finishing second in the opening race of the weekend yesterday, Waters was shaping as one of the favourites for today.

However, come the end of Q1, and the Monster Mustang was only 21st on the timesheets, with damage to the front left corner after a final lap mishap.

Pushing hard on his final lap, Waters had a moment at Turn 3 and clobbered the tyre wall on corner exit, ruining his chance to progress into Q2.

The mistake came at a crucial point in Waters' championship, with his chances in the Repco Sprint Cup hanging by a thread after his worst qualifying performance since the second round in Melbourne.

With Sprint Cup leader Broc Feeney securing his berth in the Top Ten Shootout, Waters could find himself facing an uphill battle to remain in mathematical contention heading into the Sprint Cup finale at Ipswich.

Waters is 298 points behind Feeney, and with 565 points still available across the remaining five races, the 30-year-old needs a massive recovery drive to keep himself in the hunt.

"The balance on lap one on the reused wasn't amazing, I probably didn't do an amazing job," said Waters post-Q1.

"Lap two is the lap to do it, but hit the wall at Turn 3 with my left front, and it ruined the lap. Pretty dirty on myself there.

"I think we've got a fast enough car, definitely faster than P20, so I've got a big afternoon ahead of me."

The Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout begins at 12:05pm AEST, before Race 21 begins at 3:00pm AEST.