The other side of WAU's emotional Adelaide win
Backing up after an emotional Adelaide victory proved a big challenge for Walkinshaw Andretti United in its Holden swansong.
WAU scored a memorable one-two result in the VALO Adelaide 500 opener, with Chaz Mostert leading Nick Percat home.
It was a fitting result for the team, which will switch to Ford from 2023.
Walkinshaw Holdens won nearly 200 races between 1990 and 2022, Mostert’s the 188th for the team in Commodores.
The team marked the weekend with a throwback livery to the Holden Racing Team’s 1990 debut.
Mostert, Percat and the team delivered in style — but major celebrations had to be put on ice ahead of Sunday.
The team returned a day later and Mostert was just 0.9s from completing a remarkable sweep.
It was a turnaround which impressed Team Principal Bruce Stewart given the overwhelming sense of emotion.
“We’ll never, ever forget that day, that was really special,” Stewart told Supercars’ Cool Down Lap podcast.
“That’s one of those ones that you live for. It was really cool.
“The hard thing was getting everyone to have that day and then go, ‘As much as you want to celebrate, come in today with the eyes on winning today’.
“Credit to all the guys and girls in this team, they put it all behind them and put the effort in.”
Percat — who scored his first podium of the year — cited the win as better than his Bathurst victory.
Mostert — who scored a podium at each of the last six rounds — pushed Broc Feeney all the way in the final race.
Rookie Feeney had Mostert in close company for the final stint, but held his nerve to win his first race.
Despite missing out on a memorable WAU sweep in the team’s last Holden starts, Stewart was full of praise for 20-year-old Feeney.
"I thought Broc drove really well, Mozzie was coming,” Stewart said.
“Deep down, I was hoping the young fella would crumble — but he did really well.”
WAU will now turn its attention to 2023 and its Gen3 builds.
Long-time Walkinshaw co-driver Warren Luff was at Queensland Raceway on Monday testing both prototypes.
The 2023 Repco Supercars Championship will commence in Newcastle next March.
Tickets are on sale on Supercars.com and Ticketek.com.
