Why Townsville speed could be game-changer for Mostert

Chaz Mostert finished second for round in Townsville
WAU driver finished sixth, second and third in the three races
Mostert looking ahead to Finals after finding street track speed

After some quiet rounds, Chaz Mostert was delighted to make a statement on the streets of Townsville as Supercars' first ever Finals Series looms.

A winner in New Zealand, Mostert had two podiums and an average finish of 10.9 across the nine races in Tasmania, Perth and Darwin.

Come Townsville, and Walkinshaw Andretti United reverted Mostert to the chassis he raced in 2023 and 2024, and he was among the fastest in race trim.

All told, Mostert finished second for the round, racing from ninth to sixth on Friday, 17th to second on Saturday, and eighth to third on Sunday.

Crucially, given Townsville shares similar traits to the Finals circuits at the Gold Coast, Sandown and Adelaide, Mostert hinted he could have found form at the right time.

“I’m really excited about having a strong run here,” Mostert said post-race.

“This track is very particular to the last three tracks we go to in Finals. Good time to find a bit of pace, especially around here.”

Going back to the older chassis, which Mostert carried to three wins last season, proved a coincidental benefit for the two-time Bathurst winner.

Mostert reiterated that off-season tweaks had left his side of the garage playing catch-up, with teammate Ryan Wood enjoying a superior head-to-head record in qualifying.

However, Mostert insisted that WAU had found a happy medium for both drivers in Townsville: “I definitely felt like we had deficiencies in the last car, which we were still struggling to get our heads around.

“We made a lot of other little changes in the off-season, which coming this weekend going back to the old car, was how we would run a car last year.

“Saying that, the two cars lined up a lot with the data, and both drivers had the same comments of what we were trying to chase.

“It had been different the last few rounds, trying to chase some weaknesses. It was nice — with what Woody’s feeling in his car, and what I felt this weekend — that it was pretty similar.

“That just makes it back to fighting as a two-car team and trying to work on the same problem."