Waters hails unsung heroes behind brilliant start
Cam Waters hails unsung heroes behind brilliant start
Tickford star won all three Sydney 500 races from pole position
Waters leads Will Brown by 60 points heading to Grand Prix
While his name will go into the record books and onto trophies, Cam Waters has hailed his long-time car crew for helping deliver his best start to a Supercars season.
The Tickford Racing driver heads to the next round in Melbourne with the maximum 315 points to his name, after winning all three races at the Thrifty Sydney 500 - Opening Round from pole position.
Waters has had the same names in his corner for some time, and each was a key player in the 30-year-old's strong start to the season.
The #6 Monster Energy Ford Mustang is skippered by Race Engineer Sam Potter, number one mechanic Paul Auditore, and number two Sarah Abuawad.
Potter took over from Brad Wischusen at the beginning of the 2019 season, and has been the Monster Ford's Race Engineer ever since. Auditore is often first to greet Waters in victory lane, often with emotional celebrations.
While Potter relays messages, set-up and strategies to Waters, the likes of Auditore and Abuawad keep the car going, with their efforts not lost on Waters.
When asked about his crew on Supercars' Cool Down Lap podcast, Waters said: "Yeah, it's awesome. We've been working together for years now.
"I think 2019 was our first year together. And, um, not just Pottsy, but all my mechanics as well. Like, Paulie's been on the car for ages as well. And even Sez in the last few years.
"So, I've got a really good team around me, and it's good to kind of keep going year after year together and building.”
After bringing Potter onto the Race 2 podium, Waters was also joined on the Race 3 podium by Tickford CEO Simon Brookhouse, who took over the team at the start of 2024.
“It was awesome to see him up there for sure,” Waters said of Brookhouse.
“He's been working really hard in the background and I guess it's cool to be working so hard in the background but then having the results to show for it."
Waters became the first driver since Shane van Gisbergen in 2021 for Triple Eight Race Engineering to open a season with three wins, and just the eighth in history. Waters also matched van Gisbergen's feat of scoring the maximum 315 points.
He also became the first Ford driver to achieve the feat since Scott McLaughlin in 2019. In both instances, McLaughlin and van Gisbergen went on to win the championship in those years.
“It’s obviously a very special weekend to be able to clean sweep a whole weekend. Usually you win a race and the conditions change and someone’s car will work a little bit better,” Waters said.
“The fact our car was working in all different conditions was awesome and shows how good my team is around me to be able to give me a race car that can do that.
"The real test will be taking it to different race tracks and see if we’re as competitive as we are now.”
When asked if he considers himself the favourite, Waters was coy, adding: “The last few years I feel have been all good chances. This is definitely the best we’ve started the year, for sure.
“I’ve got really good people around me and everyone is working really well together, so definitely have a good shot at winning this year for sure.
“But this is only one track, there are a fair few others to come. We’ve got to make sure we’re fast at all of them and I’m sure the guys next to me will rock up at the next round and be a little bit faster and it’ll be game on.”
