How Waters kept cool to set up Sandown showdown
Cam Waters keeps cool to set up Sandown showdown
Waters finished fourth, fifth at Gold Coast to clinch Semi Final spot
Tickford star on the bubble ahead of reigning champ Will Brown
Starting The Finals in the top four, Cam Waters needed to stay where he was to progress.
So, he did.
Chasing surfboard trophies on the Gold Coast comes with risks, but in 2025, the two-time winner in Surfers Paradise didn’t even fire a shot. However, he didn’t really need to.
A winner on the Gold Coast in 2023 and 2024, Waters arrived as a favourite for victory last weekend, but didn’t even claim a podium.
Crucially, the clean weekend was enough for Waters to retain his top four championship position. Another clean weekend at Sandown, and Waters will race for a championship in Adelaide.
Evidence of Waters’s maturation came on Sunday; where Chaz Mostert and Broc Feeney gave themselves freedom to chase headlines, Waters kept his cool.
Undone by a Shootout error, Matt Payne was on the march in the final stint, and attacked Waters into Turn 11. Instead of repeating the chaotic scenes of the 2024 Grand Prix, Waters left it up to Payne, and both cars survived.
It was a telling moment that Waters, while he wasn’t fastest, was switched on."Not a bad weekend for us finishing fifth today and we’ve made it through to the Semi Finals,” Waters said.
"Fourth in the championship, I’ve got a little bit of work to do to find some car speed but we’re close and we’re in it so onto the next one.”
It was a tougher day for teammate Thomas Randle, who survived a clash with Kai Allen to make it two Tickford Mustangs in the Finals.
Regardless, team owner Rod Nash — who celebrated 800 races on Sunday — was pleased his team was able to clear the first hurdle and attempt to clinch at least one Grand Final spot in Melbourne.
“We have a spring in our step after this weekend. Getting two drivers into the Semi Finals, with Cam Waters and Thomas Randle both showing good speed, is a good sign as we head to our home track at Sandown,” Nash said.
"This weekend we were just strong. You couldn’t ask for any more. And you’ve got to be careful in wanting to be better with the pressure in The Finals. We just need to continue with our momentum."
Tickford's last victory at Sandown came at the hands of Waters in the 2017 500km race.
Waters and Randle are fourth and seventh in points heading to the Semi Final at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 on November 14-16. Tickets for the Semi Final are on sale now.
