Former teammate declares Mostert 'not out of the woods' despite breakthrough win

The champion was back in Tasmania.

Chaz Mostert's first win of 2026 was a statement performance, the kind of drive that makes the field stand up and take notice, even if there's some six months until we crown this year's champion.

In a year where the #1 Mobil 1 Optus Toyota has largely been overshadowed by the sister Walkinshaw TWG Racing Supra of Ryan Wood, Mostert was resurgent to claim his first pole position since Perth last year, before romping away after an early move for the lead on Anton De Pasquale.

It was a win that had parallels to his run to the title last year according to former Ford Performance Racing/Prodrive teammate Mark Winterbottom, who saw Mostert once again rise to pressure applied from his teammate.

"He's under pressure, but it reminds me a lot of last year," said Winterbottom on Supercars' The Run Home podcast.

"At this point last year he was under pressure too, and Ryan Wood was starting to step up.

"I remember at Ipswich he was under massive pressure, but this game can turn very quickly, and we even saw it on the weekend.

"Saturday Race 1; dominated, absolutely dominated. 5.2 seconds, whatever the lead was, he was in cruise control when he was leading that race, and that was a scary sign to the opposition because effectively Chaz was just saying, 'Hey number one, I'm back.'"

While Winterbottom was impressed with how mighty the #1 Toyota was in the opening race of the weekend, it was what followed in the next two races that has the 2015 champion still holding off on calling him a Finals certainty.

Mostert started 13th mere hours after his win, before he picked up his third penalty for an on-track collision this season after tipping off Jayden Ojeda at Turn 6, finishing 20th and accepting responsibility.

He slipped even further back to 18th on the grid the following day, but recovered strongly to finish ninth. The lack of consistent qualifying speed is Mostert's biggest hurdle to overcome according to Winterbottom.

What Mostert does have in his favour is a 68-point buffer over Jack Le Brocq, who fell out of the bubble with a disastrous round in Tasmania.

"But then the sport changes quickly, Race 2 he struggled and Race 3 he struggled again. I don't know how he would come away from that weekend," Winterbottom continued.

"Big tick to win, a lot of confidence from Saturday, but then coming home Sunday night he actually didn't deliver on the same tyre, same conditions effectively, and couldn't get the job done.

"Chaz is up and down a bit at the moment, so I don't know mentally how he would feel, but to get a race win Saturday afternoon, he would've been absolutely buzzing because it has been a tough start.

"Coming off the controversy in Christchurch as well, the best way to bounce back is to get a race win and to silence the critics, and put a big stamp on your results. Really important in that aspect.

"But he's not out of the woods yet. I think he needs to find consistency, and he's one of the best qualifiers in the field, and it's not working for him consistently at the moment.

"Race pace is strong, but Chaz Mostert's strength is qualifying, and it's not working at the moment, so he still has work to do to cement a top 10 spot."

Mostert is 10th in the points standings heading into the betr Darwin Triple Crown, an event where he's won three times, from June 19-21. Tickets for the event are on sale now.