Supercars Gold Coast: Chaz Mostert dominates wet race for Walkinshaw Toyota

Chaz Mostert has given Walkinshaw TWG and Toyota the first win in Supercars Finals on the streets of Gold Coast.

Even in the team’s spare car – which a year ago was bodied as a Ford Mustang – Mostert dominated the race. He qualified second in the Top 10 Shoot Out and was untouched as long as the rain fell. He was 15 seconds clear at the end of the first pit cycle and almost double that at the end of the second.

The race started in heavy rain and behind the Safety Car, and pole man Broc Feeney led the field away for three slow laps. But once the Safety Car pulled over, the Triple Eight driver started to lose grip, possibly due to starting on tyre pressures higher than many of the opposition.

At the end of the first lap run under a green flag, Mostert shot past and simply drove away at more than a second a lap. Feeney dropped back through the pack until his Triple Eight team called the Mustang in, on lap 21, for a re-pressured set of wet-weather tyres.

Mostert made his first stop slightly ahead of schedule, largely because he was starting to come up to lap cars that had taken even earlier stops, and once he resumed after his stop he continued to stretch his lead. He was 27 seconds in front of the opposition before the team asked him to save fuel with two laps to go.

“It’s a bit of deja vu, isn’t it?” said Mostert after his third consecutive win at the circuit after a 2025 double victory.

“Everything was faultless. I am just glad there wasn’t a Safety Car. She didn’t have anything left. It was pretty sketchy to start with, but it was better up front to be back in the pack.”

Matt Payne started fifth and was running second in the closing stages of the race but the points leader was hit with a five-second time penalty. As a result, the Grove Racing Ford driver pushed on in the increasing rain at the end of the race, but he just failed to cover the penalty, and was relegated to third.

David Reynolds started back in 14th but wasted no time in showing why he has been a driver to be reckoned with on the beachside bullring (where he is a previous winner, and six-time podium finisher). He made a very early stop on lap nine, and from that point made the most of the clear track that brave move provided.

For almost 10 laps after his second stop Reynolds has the race leader right behind him, but once that played out, he consolidated his podium finish, a gain of 12 placings.

“At the start I could not see anything, so we made an early stop,” he explained. At the end there I was just hanging on. All the stops were good, the car was really fast today. We got everyone but Chaz. I knocked the toes out and the cambers out hitting all the fences.”

Payne was philosophical after being dropped to third.

“It was some of the hardest driving I have had to do for some time, trying to get it right over the back was so difficult,” he said. “Unfortunate with the penalty but I was still on the podium.”

Anton De Pasquale managed to extend his Chevrolet Camaro’s Qualifying form (he started third) into the race and took fourth place, ahead of Andre Heimgartner. Brad Jones Racing carried the car speed they showed at Bathurst to the streets, the New Zealander’s Supra starting fourth, the highest-placed on the non-Finalists.

Behind came a quartet of Ford Mustangs. Will Brown was the better-placed of the Triple Eight drivers, keeping his nose clean and holding out Bathurst 1000 winner Brodie Kostecki. His Dick Johnson Racing Ford started from outside the top 10 and nearly ran up an escape road at one point, but he recovered to pick off the Tickford Ford of Cam Waters. Feeney was ninth ahead of Jayden Ojeda (PremiAir racing Chevrolet).

The race was a disaster for three of the 10 Finals contenders. Jack Le Brocq had a myriad of problems, including a five-second penalty, and was classified as 22nd.

Thomas Randle finished 23rd in the Tickford Mustang after a number of problems, ahead only of Kai Allen. The Grove Racing Ford driver made a long pitstop for attention to the cars alternator, and they could be facing elimination when the drivers assemble for Sunday’s second race.

Race results:

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– The Motorsport.com Team

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