Gold Coast 500: Rain causes drama as Mostert and Feeney secure their spots in the top 7.
Race 31:
For Chaz Mostert, race 31 was a successful day for him. With rain pouring down he was able to work through the conditions and secure himself another win on the Gold Coast. His teammate Ryan Wood however struggled to make any moves through the field, ultimately settling for P14.
David Reynolds was a surprise appearance on the podium. After an early gamble for different tyre strategy to the rest of the field, he managed to make some major moves within the field. This meant he was well within touching distance of the podium and eventually finished P3, with a promotion to P2 due to a penalty. Anton De Pasquale had a great race as well, securing some major points for the finals series after finishing P4 in the race. It was an overall positive race for Team 18 with their drivers finishing within the top 4.
Matt Payne was driving a great race until he was given a time penalty, which would drop him from P2 to P3. Whilst still securing a podium, it would not have been the result he would have liked. For Kai Allen, it was a very tough day after finishing P24 with an alternator failure which cost him time on track and forced him in for an additional pitstop.
Andre Heimgartner was the lone Brad Jones Racing Supra that finished in the top 5, after a great race helped him to secure some great points for himself and the teams championship result.
Will Brown was able to work through the difficulties of track conditions and weather to finish P6, moving up 3 positions from where he had started, whilst Broc Feeney who started on pole position, but unfortunately dropped 8 positions to P9.
Brodie Kostecki had a better race after a tough qualifying result put him just out of the top 10. He managed to work through the conditions and moving up 4 positions to finish P7.
Cam Waters had a quiet race, struggling to move up the field and only securing P8. Any points is vital for a driver within the top 7 and for Waters who was sitting on the cusp of elimination, any points were necessary to maintain his spot.
Finally, the last driver within the top 10 was PremiAir’s Jayden Ojeda. The young driver moved up 13 positions which was a very impressive result given many drivers were struggling with the conditions on track.
Race 32:
Race 32 was a great day for Broc Feeney as the conditions had changed significantly, and it ensured he could secure his first race win on home turf. After starting on pole again, with teammate Will Brown in P2, it was a much better run for Feeney, however Brown struggled and lost 11 positions, finishing P11.
Brodie Kostecki put in the hard work, chasing Feeney down at one point to try and secure the win, but despite all the hard work he would finish P2. A very solid result for a driver still sitting comfortably in the top 7.
Chaz Mostert managed to get onto the podium again with another impressive race. Starting further down the field however, he managed to make up 5 positions to finish P3, with his teammate Ryan Wood finishing P4. Unfortunately for Wood it would not be enough to help him get into the top 7 and he would be eliminated from the final’s series.
Andre Heimgartner finished another race on the Gold Coast in P5. It appeared the track was well suited for him and his Supra. This time he was also joined by Cam Hill finishing P9 for brad Jones Racing.
Matt Payne finished in P6 after having a tough qualifying and only managed to start P12. His teammate Kai Allen was another driver who needed to have a near perfect race and unfortunately that would not happen, making him another driver who would be eliminated from the final’s series.
Cam Waters and Thomas Randle had similarly quiet weekends. Race 32 didn’t do much for them, however Waters managed to stay in the top 7, finishing P7 in race 32. Randle finished just within the top 10, in P10.
The final driver in the top 10 was a shock result as James Golding jumped up to P8 in a great result for Blanchard Racing Team. It was an unexpected result, but also one that was well earnt as well.
Our final driver who was within the top 10 for finals but unfortunately joined Wood and Allen at the end of the Gold Coast round was Jack LeBrocq. Facing difficult race situations and such, there was very little that could be done to secure these drivers spots in finals.
This weekend is the second round of the final’s series at Sandown Raceway. There are 7 drivers who remain: Matt Payne, Broc Feeney, Brodie Kostecki, Chaz Mostert, Will Brown, Cam Waters and Anton De Pasquale. After this weekend, only 4 of these drivers will still be in the running for the championship heading to the final race in Adelaide.
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