Waters scorches to drought breaking Darwin pole
Cam Waters scorches to drought breaking pole in Darwin
Waters to share Race 18 front row with Ford rival Brodie Kostecki
Matt Payne third, Chaz Mostert starts fourth for 400th race
Tickford Racing star Cam Waters has blazed to a first Boost Mobile Pole of 2026 in an enthralling Top Ten Shootout at the betr Darwin Triple Crown.
The Friday winner mastered Hidden Valley Raceway to secure his first pole since Sydney 2025, and his first in Darwin since 2023. Remarkably, it marked Waters' first front row start of the season.
Friday pole winner Brodie Kostecki threw away a brilliant first sector to end up second, with Chaz Mostert to start his 400th Supercars race from fourth alongside Matt Payne.
Kai Allen and Broc Feeney will share the third row, with Jack Le Brocq, Thomas Randle, James Golding and Zach Bates rounding out the top 10.
With Finals contenders Will Brown, Ryan Wood and Anton De Pasquale all eliminated in qualifying, Waters has a golden chance to put more breathing space between his rivals at the top of the standings.
“It’s been way too long but I was super happy with that lap,” said Waters, a two-time Pole Champion.
“I just wanted to get through [Turn] 1 okay, I got through there better than I did in quali and I knew I was pretty on from that point on.
“It’s been a struggle this year. Yesterday was awesome for us and to get pole for this race sets us up really well.”
2024 Darwin pole man James Golding set the early benchmark with a 1:06.9607s, with Matt Stone Racing rookie Zach Bates falling 0.012s short.
Trying to dig himself out of trouble, the championship leader marched to a 1:06.5724s to put plenty of breathing space between himself and Golding. Le Brocq went next, and despite pacing the first and third sectors, fell 0.02s short after missing the apex at the Turn 6 hairpin.
Armed with green tyres, milestone man Mostert — in his first Shootout since Adelaide 2025 — put nearly 0.3s on Feeney's time with a 1:06.3026s. Allen followed up with a 1:06.4409s, with Randle only good enough for fifth in the order with a 1:06.7613s.
Chasing Mostert's 1:06.2051s, Payne nailed the second and third sectors to move 0.097s ahead, leaving a mountain to climb for Ford rivals Waters and Kostecki. Waters, though, was imperious in the second and third sectors to nail a 1:06.0383s, leaving his rivals for dead.
Battling ill health, Kostecki chased consecutive pole positions for the first time since Taupō. The #17 Shell V-Power Ford bobbled through the hairpin after a rapid first sector, and missed out by 0.133s.
The 70-lap Race 18 will commence at 3:20pm local/3:50pm AEST. All sessions are live and ad-free via Fox Sports and Kayo.
