Waters tops wild Darwin practice, title contenders struggle

Cam Waters has gone from zero to hero in the sole practice session of the betr Darwin Triple Crown, going from spinning to topping the timesheets at Hidden Valley.

The Tickford Racing star looped his Monster Mustang in the opening moments of the session at the final corner, and looked to be struggling throughout the 45 minutes, but nailed a 1:06.2863s to pip Matt Payne.

Whilst one Ford star soared, points leader Broc Feeney and Brodie Kostecki both had battles, as they struggled with car issues through the session.

With the opening day of the event culminating in a 100km sprint race at 5:00pm local time, all 24 drivers were pushing limits to the extreme throughout the 45 minutes, with a wet outfield due to overnight rain punishing mistakes.

Battling with illness in the lead up to the weekend, Kostecki's week went from bad to worse as he dived straight back into pit lane reporting an issue with the throttle body on his out lap, which was soon identified as a throttle body failure.

The winningest driver of the 2026 season to date lost 14 minutes as the issue was fixed, which could prove costly in the condensed Friday format.

Will Brown's weekend got off to a strong start, going fastest in the opening phase of the session on a 1:06.5191s, though he fired off at Turn 1 on his second run, as did Walkinshaw TWG Racing pair Chaz Mostert and Ryan Wood.

Feeney was also struggling with his brakes, complaining of an inconsistent brake feel, though Triple Eight quickly wheeled the #88 back out on track.

Both Penrite Racing and Team 18 continued their strong form from Tasmania, both of their cars sitting in the top six through the opening half of the session.

Jayden Ojeda soon vaulted into fourth, PremiAir Racing having bolted brand new tyres onto the #31 and setting the fastest third sector of all, while teammate Declan Fraser popped himself up into fifth.

Jackson Walls was the first victim of the weekend when he had a big slide at the final corner, rearranging the right rear corner of the Objective Mustang on the Armco barrier and ending his session with 15 minutes remaining.

Aaron Cameron also had a close call with the fence as he dribbled off at Turn 10, while Kai Allen had a big moment at Turn 1 as the rear stepped out twice in the braking zone.

Times tumbled in the final minutes, with Jack Le Brocq bumping the marker down to a 1:06.4541s, which was quickly surpassed by Waters, who ended the session fastest on a 1:06.2863s.

Payne would jump ahead of Le Brocq, but was 0.0633s off Waters' marker, while Mostert would finish fourth to put all three manufacturers in the top four, separated by just 0.1717s.

The top 10 was rounded out by Ojeda, early pacesetter Brown, Kai Allen, Anton De Pasquale, Thomas Randle, and Reynolds. Kostecki and Feeney could only muster 12th and 13th, ahead of the four remaining Toyotas.

Supercars next his the track for Boost Mobile Qualifying at 1:05pm local time/1:35pm AEST.