It would sound slightly unusual to counsel that one of many winners from the Supercars races at Albert Park was Cameron Waters.
In any case, his clear sweep at Sydney Motorsport Park final month marked Waters as the motive force to beat to the championship. Three poles, three wins and three quickest laps within the three races is an achievement not often seen in a collection like Supercars, the place the automobiles are very related technically.
Added to that, the three races that have been accomplished on the Australian Grand Prix venue have been gained by three totally different drivers, and never one among them was Waters. So the helpful factors lead the Tickford Ford Mustang driver carried into the Melbourne evaporated within the warmth and he now sits seven factors in arrears of the brand new factors chief and defending Supercars Champion, Triple Eight’s Will Brown.
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Solely 5 drivers scored extra factors than Waters did, and his outcomes have been sixth, sixth and eighth within the three races. Alternatively Brown completed these races second, third and first. However contemplating how Waters did what he did, it was positively a constructive weekend.
Waters needed to scratch and struggle his means ahead in two of these races, after qualifying twenty second and nineteenth in races one and three, whereas Brown began from second in each these races.
Then the race which may have tipped the scales in Waters’s favour on Sunday was deserted because of the inclement Melbourne climate; he would have began from fifth whereas Brown, after a qualifying catastrophe after which a three-place grid penalty for a driving infraction, was buried again in twenty second on the grid. When the officers took the choice to not begin the race, Brown’s smile would have been vast, notably since at that specific second, Melbourne’s fickle Sunday climate was not really that horrible…
It will be harsh to counsel that Brown was fortunate to carry on to his factors lead, however on this event, fortune leaned his means.
Will Brown, Triple Eight Race Engineering Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Photograph by: Edge Photographics
These two aside, there was a lot to notice on the grand prix circuit. Seven qualifying classes into a protracted season, solely two drivers have scored pole positions, the three Waters grabbed in Sydney trumped by Broc Feeney’s 4 in Melbourne. The Triple Eight teenager actually is one thing particular across the sweeping grand prix observe; he has 10 profession Supercars pole positions and eight of them have come at Albert Park.
Likewise, Matt Stone Racing continued its infatuation with the observe. Final 12 months Nick Percat scored the crew a win in his Chevrolet Camaro; this time round he was on the rostrum twice, a statistic that will have appeared outstanding if not for the truth that his second place on Friday got here behind his MSR team-mate Cam Hill.
The Canberra driver’s breakthrough victory appeared completely composed, and Percat might have gained for the crew once more on Saturday had his energy steering not light then surrendered within the stifling Melbourne warmth. Percat did what he may to wrestle the automotive to 3rd place, utilizing his knees to leverage the ultra-heavy steering over the ultimate lap. He would have been grateful for 2 issues; that two of the final three corners are right-handers so he may deploy his left knee to the steering wheel, and that his 6’3” peak allowed him to do this.
Brodie Kostecki was the most effective of the remaining (and of the Mustang drivers) for Dick Johnson Racing. No matter it’s about Albert Park, it simply doesn’t swimsuit a Ford. The final 15 Supercars races across the lakeside circuit have been gained by both Holdens or Chevrolets; to seek out the final Ford winner, you need to go all the way in which again to 2019, when Scott McLaughlin gained for what was then DJR Group Penske forward of Tickford Racing’s Chaz Mostert.
Because the automobiles and gear sail the Tasman Sea to New Zealand, the bitumen patchwork of Taupo Motorsport Park awaits. Waters and Brown shall be trying ahead to a way more easy weekend, and everyone seems to be hopeful of cool however high-quality climate.
On this article
Phil Branagan
Supercars
Cameron Waters
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