Mostert's rollercoaster Sydney campaign takes another twist

Qualifying results of 20th and 22nd for the first two races isn’t what Chaz Mostert had planned for his title defence.

The Walkinshaw Andretti United star, who raced to 15th on Friday, returned on Saturday with renewed optimism in a bid to turn around his stuttering weekend aboard his new Toyota GR Supra.

However, weather and timing conspired against Mostert, with the #1 Mobil 1 Optus Toyota buried in the pack for Saturday's 200km race.

Mostert was seen remonstrating in his car during Q1, before returning to the track and jumping into the top 10. However, amid light rain, the track rapidly improved. Mostert was one to fall foul of the changing conditions, as James Golding claimed provisional pole.

In a bright moment for WTWGR, Ryan Wood managed to reach Q2, along with fellow Supra drivers Andre Heimgartner and Cameron Hill.

Wood's performance impressed Mostert, who remained positive despite being consigned to a second lowly grid position in as many days.

"It's pretty representative of what was possible," Mostert said after Boost Mobile Qualifying.

"Obviously a bit of weather on the horizon. We stuck to our guns, went new tyres, was one of the first ones on the green tyre. We tried a lot of things overnight too and there's some positives in there, but we didn't probably nail it all.

"Keen to see how Ryan goes. He obviously did an amazing job then, both cars are a little bit different in a few things, so we'll see what he can learn in the next segment and then hopefully we can dial in something for the race and see if we can move forward from there."

Wood ultimately reached the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout, delivering on Mostert's hope.

The two WTWGR Supras showed promise before inevitably dropping down the order on Friday night, given their rivals took four tyres on a circuit that wears out the DUNLOP control tyres.

As he did on Friday night, Mostert kept the faith, conceding there's still a way to go before he finds the sweet spot in his car.

"It's gonna be ups and downs, especially with the new package. People have changed teams over the off seasons, but they've gone into the different manufacturers that have been developed over the last three years," Mostert said.

"So for us, we're really excited about what the future holds for our Toyota GR Supra. We're just trying to find where our set-up window is, and then also some other stuff from there."

The 200km, 52-lap Race 2 will commence at 7:35pm.