Mostert roars into Grand Final, Brown launches Sandown fightback
Chaz Mostert controls Sandown opener, clinches Grand Final spot
Will Brown charges from 15th to second, and into Grand Final contention
Brown muscles past Ryan Wood for second spot with four laps to go
Walkinshaw Andretti United star Chaz Mostert has won his way into the bp Adelaide Grand Final with a controlled Saturday victory at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500, as Will Brown mounted a stunning comeback.
As it was on the Gold Coast, Mostert was class of the field, leading from the outset after teammate and pole winner Ryan Wood opened the door on the run to Turn 1.
Beyond Mostert, who punched his Adelaide ticket, the biggest winners were Red Bull Ampol Racing duo Brown and Broc Feeney, who charged through the field and into provisional Grand Final positions. Brown motored from 15th on the grid to second behind Mostert, with Feeney racing from seventh to fourth.
Triple Eight also clinched the teams' championship, moving 948 points clear with 864 remaining.
"Thanks to all the fans for coming out today, I tell you what I owe Woody a beer tonight, he saved my bacon out there," said Mostert, who claimed three straight wins for the first time in his career.
"Just struggled for a little bit of rear tyre life, but just so glad to just hang on. It was awesome to be able to share the front row, Woody would have been a hard man to beat if he didn't have to slow up for the old fella today.
"Like I said, I owe him, it's a real team win so we'll celebrate it hard after the weekend.
"It's awesome, three in a row, it's amazing. But like I said, today was a bit of a gift, bloody hard work on a Super Soft tyre around here for 250 k's, so looking forward to a nice big carve up tonight and get on the other tyre tomorrow."
It was a bruising day for Tickford Racing, meanwhile, with Cam Waters and Thomas Randle both staring down the barrel of elimination, as is Penrite Racing rookie Kai Allen.
Heading into Sunday, Mostert, Feeney, Brown and Payne hold the ascendency, with Allen, Waters and Randle almost certainly needing victory to progress to Adelaide.
The two WAU Fords got an even jump, but Wood feathered the throttle to let Mostert lead the field through Turn 1. Behind them, Allen had a strong jump, but was unable to make positions from fifth. Brown was up two spots and Randle one through lap 1, as they commenced their charge.
Payne passed Allen into Turn 1 on lap 5 and set off after Anton De Pasquale, who seemed to have enough in reserve to keep the Bathurst champion at bay. Penrite Racing blinked and brought Payne in from fifth on lap 14. Allen, meanwhile, was picked off by Feeney into Turn 1, while Brown passed Waters.
Mostert's lead breached 1.5s on lap 17, with Brodie Kostecki four seconds behind Wood, who peeled off for his first stop on lap 18. Wood emerged three seconds ahead of Payne, who was racing for track position over Kostecki and De Pasquale.
Feeney stopped from fourth on lap 23, with Mostert making his first stop on the following lap. Wood raced past his teammate as Mostert exited pit lane, with Payne right behind the erstwhile leader. Brown took the lead on lap 28 as Allen stopped and rejoined behind Feeney and Kostecki. However, Brown and Waters took their stops on the following lap.
With the first stops complete by lap 32, Mostert was closing leader Wood, with Payne, Feeney, Kostecki, Allen, De Pasquale, Bryce Fullwood, James Courtney and Brown the top 10. Waters was 13th, and Randle 21st.
On lap 35, WAU continued to play the game, with Mostert breezing past Wood into Turn 1. Behind the WAU Mustangs, Triple Eight's march continued; Brown raced back into a provisional Grand Final position after passing Fullwood, De Pasquale and Allen, while Feeney passed Payne for third on lap 43.
Penrite Racing pulled Payne in for his second stop on lap 49, with Feeney covering off his Ford rival with a stop of his own on the following lap. Kostecki emerged ahead of both of them, only to run wide at Turn 1 and gift the position to Feeney.
As Wood and Allen peeled off, Mostert was coached by engineer Sam Scaffidi as traffic on fresh tyres raced into view. WAU brought their man in on lap 53, Mostert resuming 1.3s ahead of Wood. Brown stopped with 25 laps to go and emerged just behind Kostecki and Payne.
Brown easily picked off Payne and Kostecki and set off after his teammate, as Mostert assumed the lead on lap 60. On lap 69, Feeney let Brown by, setting up a 13-lap grandstand finish.
Brown caught Wood into the closing eight laps, and the reigning champion applied pressure. On lap 75, Brown closed in into Dandenong Road, helping Mostert eke out a margin. On the next lap, Brown tried again, Wood surviving a slide through Turn 7 to hold on.
Brown was hit with a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits, but the reigning champion cast the message aside to get through with four laps to go. However, it left the door open for Mostert to open up a lead he wouldn't surrender.
Mostert won ahead of Brown and Wood, with Feeney, Kostecki, Payne, Allen, De Pasquale, Fullwood and James Golding. Will Davison raced to 11th in his 600th Supercars race, with Waters 12th and Randle 16th.
Erebus Motorsport veteran Jack Le Brocq was forced into the garage on lap 29 with an electrical issue, and finished 24th and 14 laps down.
Sunday's action commences with Boost Mobile Qualifying at 11:20am local time, followed by the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout at 12:10pm. Race 31, at 3:20pm, will decide the Grand Final field.
