What happened to Waters in costly Tassie finale
Cam Waters finished distant 12th after running as high as second
Tickford driver now 91 points from lead, three rounds after leading by 65
Waters winless in nine races, has missed top 10 in three of last five races
Tickford Racing’s Sunday in Tasmania promised much yet delivered little, with Cam Waters losing crucial ground in the Repco Sprint Cup hunt.
After running as high as second in the first stint, the Tickford Racing driver finished a distant 12th after losing out in both pit cycles.
While the 30-year-old was fifth for the round, Waters failed to score strongly in the big points Sunday race for the second round in a row.
To make matters worse, closest rivals Broc Feeney, Will Brown and Matt Payne finished on the Sunday podium, seeing Waters fall to fourth and 91 points down — just three rounds after leaving Sydney 65 points atop the standings.
The numbers make for alarming reading; in the Sunday races in New Zealand and Tasmania, Waters scored just 112 points, compared to Payne's 280, Feeney's 224, and Brown's 196.
A slow first stop, due to a fumbled fuel churn dump, left Waters shaking his head in his car as he waited to rejoin the race. Later, he was caught out in the second round of stops, and became embroiled in some battles that ultimately dented his afternoon.
Starting third, Waters muscled past Will Brown — in a series of hits that frustrated Triple Eight boss Jamie Whincup — and sat second behind the fast-starting James Golding.
The flying Feeney got by Waters on lap 12, with Walkinshaw Andretti United Ford driver Ryan Wood demoting Waters to fourth on lap 15. When the Safety Car was deployed for the spinning Brodie Kostecki, Waters was followed into the lane by Payne and Richie Stanaway, who both jumped the Monster Ford in the lane.
Payne made his crucial second compulsory stop on the following lap, promoting Waters to fifth behind Feeney, Golding, Wood and Stanaway when the race restarted.
Waters held position for the next 28 laps before following Feeney in with 21 laps to go. By that stage, Waters had dropped 14 seconds to Feeney, who was turning in qualifying laps in response to Payne’s bold strategy.
Andre Heimgartner and Nick Percat both jumped Waters in the second stops, leaving the Monster Ford a net 11th with 19 laps left once the key stops had played out.
In a Matt Stone Racing sandwich, Waters came under attack from Cameron Hill as they disputed 11th, which became 10th when Tickford Racing teammate Thomas Randle was turned around by David Reynolds.
On lap 72, Hill dropped Waters to 11th, before Jaxon Evans climbed over the Monster Ford with three laps to go.
On a day Waters held a top five spot and sat no lower than seventh through the first 57 laps, he came home 12th and 30 seconds behind winner Payne, who beat Feeney by 0.05s.
Tickford Racing owner Rod Nash refused to throw in the towel, however, instead insisting the team is looking to bring home points. It comes after Nash implored Tickford to act after it had been "hanging in there" in Melbourne and New Zealand.
“It’s tough out there and bloody competitive,” said Nash, who brought the team together after Saturday's finale over team orders tension.
"We’d still like to be further forward but at this point in the championship we’re looking to bag points.
"That’s our motto in the team. And we want to hold that line and keep doing it. Our drivers are like wingmen for each other."
The season resumes in Perth, where Waters won the finale last year. Tickets on sale now.
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