Queensland Raceway, you delivered the drama!
Three intriguing races, three different winners, and a series of seismic championship shocks. The Ipswich circuit played host to a dramatic weekend of twists and turns, with some teams looking for answers.
Matt Payne's DNF and Broc Feeney's Bradbury act were Sunday's key headlines, while there was another Walkinshaw TWG Racing heartbreak.
Catch key storylines for each team, listed in teams' championship order.
Penrite Racing
A Repco Sprint Cup lost, a one-two dashed, and teams' championship lead slashed. It was a tougher than expected weekend, especially given Matt Payne claimed two poles. Kai Allen missed the podium altogether, was penalised in the opener, and avoided penalty after claiming provisional pole. Triple Eight out-scored them by 191 points.
Red Bull Ampol Racing
The weekend started with a transaxle issue for Will Brown, and ended with two wins, a Sprint Cup victory, a championship lead for Broc Feeney, and a big teams' championship lead gain. Feeney's Sunday turnaround was nothing less than a miracle. Add to that, news of David Cauchi's return as Brown's engineer from The Bend, with Andrew Edwards the new Head of Performance.
Tickford Racing
It was a nondescript weekend that delivered no silverware. Cam Waters provisionally clinched his Finals spot, but didn't have enough for the Triple Eight and Penrite Fords. Thomas Randle marginally improved his Finals hopes, while impressive wildcard Ben Gomersall showed good one-lap speed, and learned plenty in the races.
Walkinshaw TWG Racing
The story of the weekend for the team doesn't deserve to be Chaz Mostert's DNF. Mostert fought with the heavyweight Fords on Saturday, and was there on Sunday. Ryan Wood was nowhere all weekend, which was part shock, part concern.
Shell V-Power Racing Team
Brodie Kostecki dominated practice, won the first race, and claimed two more podiums to top the round point score. It was a big weekend for both cars, with Rylan Gray managing a career best result. A locked exhaust cam made for a stressful Saturday afternoon, Gray making the grid with 20 seconds to spare. Kostecki was furious with traffic in the Sunday race, but found reason to smile in jumping Waters for third in points.
Team 18
Chevrolets didn't fire a shot all weekend. Anton De Pasquale and David Reynolds did the heavy lifting on Sunday with a double top 10. There was consternation over Reynolds' penalty on Saturday afternoon, dropping him from eighth to 16th. Bayley Hall's weekend was tough, as expected. He had big support: when he wasn't on broadcast duties, Craig Lowndes was watching on from the garage.
Blanchard Racing Team
Sunday was a day to remember, James Golding returning to the top 10 in points courtesy of a magnificent run to fifth in the race. Aaron Cameron was also 10th, and jumped to 17th overall. Before that, it was a luckless weekend, Golding being spun out by Ryan Wood in the closing laps of the second race. Still, the Ford squad jumped two spots in the teams' championship.
Brad Jones Racing
An odd fine for an errant screwdriver was among the peculiar stories of the weekend. Andre Heimgartner was perplexed after Sunday's race, but still found time to smile. He did take Toyota Supercars mastermind Sean Hanley for a passenger ride on Friday, but is 142 points from 10th. Fair play to Cameron Hill, who came through from 24th to finish in 15th.
Matt Stone Racing
Jack Le Brocq benefited from a spin for James Golding on Saturday to hang onto 10th in the points, but his luck ran out on Sunday. A suspected steering issue dudded Le Brocq, and a fifth for Golding led to a change in the standings. Aaron Seton largely kept his nose clean in the wildcard Camaro, while Zach Bates' struggles continued.
PremiAir Racing
PremiAir Racing had a tough Ipswich, Declan Fraser — who ran out of fuel on the last lap, dropping two positions — 21st and Jayden Ojeda 22nd for the weekend. A big disappointment given Queensland Raceway is the team's home circuit. Team Principal Roland Dane was blunt: "Not a good weekend for us. We didn’t fulfil our potential, and we got involved in incidents on track that we simply shouldn’t have."
Erebus Motorsport
Cooper Murray was impressive in qualifying on Saturday, but a mystery fuel shortage cost him on Sunday. Murray dropped from 10th to 12th at Turn 5 on the final lap when his Camaro coughed. Still, the green shoots keep emerging for Erebus ahead of the enduros.
Objective Racing
Jackson Walls put down his best weekend yet, with his results aided by good qualifying performance. It could have been better had he not been penalised twice in Sunday's race.
