Hi to all you Supercars Fans around the world!
On the weekend of the 5th – 7th July 2024 was round 6 of the 2024 Supercars championship, the NTI Townsville 500.
The event was held in Townsville, North Queensland.
Supercars have been racing in Townsville for 16, years since the street circuit was first opened in 2009. The circuit is 2.8km long with 13 turns.
In that very first event of 2009, Lee Holdsworth and Garth Tander shared the pole positions and Jamie Whincup and Jamess Courtney shared the race wins.
Townsville displayed its typical weather pattern on the Saturday of this year’s event, bloody hot with an afternoon storm but on the Sunday it managed to stay dry.
In the pre-race sessions
- Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 1
- Cameron Waters was fastest in Practice 2
- Will Davison was fastest in Qualifying
- Cameron Waters was fastest in the Top Ten Shootout
In Race 13 Cameron Waters started on pole position with Chaz Mostert alongside him.
Cameron Waters got the jump off the start line and led into turn 1 for the first of 88 laps, a total of 250kms.
Thomas Randle got up the inside of Will Davison at turn 3 for 3rd place but back in the pack there was chaos. As the rest of the cars got to turn 3 Nick Percat, Brodie Kostecki and Anton de Pasquale made contact heavily. As they bounced around the track there was a big risk of other cars hitting them from behind. As Jaxon Evans came through, he joined the chaos and was also turned around. Will Brown who started 13th on the grid was in the danger zone of being caught up but somehow, he managed to stay out of trouble.
The first 3 cars in the incident, Percat, Kostecki and Pasquale had to all head into the pits due to damage. Race officials investigated the incident but found no-one to at fault, so no penalties were issued.
By lap 2 the positions had changed significantly. James Courtney had gained 6 places moving up to 11th. Will Brown gained 1 place up to 12th and David Reynolds was up 8 spots in 13th place.
The leading 5 cars were reasonably close to each other. Chaz Mostert was right behind his former teammate Cameron Waters by only 0.682 seconds.
The first car to pit by choice was Aaron Love on lap 19. He came back on the circuit in 21st place.
A few laps later Chaz Mostert was the first of the leaders to pit. There were 9 cars still yet to take their stops. Once they did, they would be out of the way and Chaz Mostert would be able to resume his face-to-face battle for the lead with Cameron Waters.
When Cameron Waters pitted on lap 28 he had a 7.7 second lead over Will Davison in 2nd place.
By the middle of the race Chaz Mostert was given the space by Cameron Waters to pass and now had the number 1 spot with 1.8 seconds lead.
Chaz Mostert kept the lead and with 15 laps to go was followed by Thomas Randle and then Cameron Waters.
Further back in the pack Will Brown had gained an amazing 7 spots into 6th place and now behind Jack Le Brocq in 5th.
With 11 laps remaining the rain started to bucket down and drivers were struggling to keep the cars on the track. As suddenly as it had started, the rain passed. Although the track was still wet, I am sure the drivers were thankful.
Cameron Waters wasted no time. Soon enough he passed his teammate Thomas Randle to be in 2nd place.
Thomas Randle lost his momentum and dropped back a few places. Will Brown made contact with him on the approach to turn 3 but somehow both cars stayed away from the wall.
Cameron Waters was now challenging Chaz Mostert. Waters wouldn’t let up. Chaz Mostert must have felt he wasn’t able to defend the number 1 spot without high risk. Instead of possibly endangering his car and losing a podium finish he seemed to let Cameron Waters pass easily.
Cameron Waters edged ahead in the last laps and finally crossed the line with a 1.8 second lead over Chaz Mostert. Then there was another 4.6 seconds back to Will Brown who managed to move up into 3rd place for the finish. It was a spectacular result.
Results for Race 13
1st Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
2nd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
3rd Will Brown – Red Bull Ampol Racing
On the Sunday of the 3 day event Jack le Brocq started on pole position for Race 14. Alongside him was Cameron Waters.
As they took off Cameron Waters once again led into turn 1 for the first of 88 laps.
The polesitter, Jack le Brocq did not get an ideal start and dropped back to 4th.
Thomas Randle was now in 2nd place and James Courtney was in 3rd.
This year’s championship leader Will Brown missed the Top 10 Shootouts in both races of the event. He qualified 17th on the grid. To add to his woes, David Reynolds hit him from behind in lap 1 sending him into the concrete barrier wall and seriously damaged his car. Will Brown now had to head straight to the pits and returned to the race in 24th, last place. It scrapped all his hopes of protecting his championship lead.
Will Brown’s teammate Broc Feeney (who happens to be 2nd on the championship ladder) was having problems of his own. On this first lap he had dropped from 6th place on the grid back to 13th.
Chaz Mostert who had started 8th on the grid managed to get by Matt Payne for 6th place. He wasted no time and went on the charge. Soon he was in 4th place just behind the leaders. By the end of the 1st lap he was in 3rd.
Within the next few laps Chaz Mostert passed Thomas Randle for second place.
The first car to pit aside from Will Brown at the race start, was Matt Payne on lap 20. He was in 3rd place but unable to challenge the 2 cars ahead. The team strategised to come in now and be better able to make ground with fresh tyres.
By the middle of the race Jack le Brocq who had a terrible start from his pole position was now out the front and leading. Cameron Waters and Chaz Mostert were right behind him.
Matt Payne’s pitting strategy paid off. In the second half of the race he managed to squeeze passed and take the lead. With 7 laps to go he had a 9.2 second lead over Cameron Waters in 2nd place with Chaz Mostert not far behind.
Waters and Mostert chased Matt Payne for all their experience was worth. The cars began to spread out. However, Matt Payne was just too fast and crossed the finish line 6.057 seconds ahead of Cameron Waters.
Mostert had slipped a little but came in 3rd place 7.6 seconds later.
It was an unexpected finish especially after this year’s dominance of Will Brown and Broc Feeney up until now.
Results for Race 14
1st Matt Payne – Grove Racing
2nd Cameron Waters – Tickford Racing
3rd Chaz Mostert – Walkinshaw Andretti United
Regardless of a bad weekend for the Red Bull Ampol Racing team, Will Brown still leads the championship but only by 78 points over Broc Feeney.
The next event is the Panasonic Sydney Supernight July 19 – 21.
I hope you will join me. Until then keep those engines revving!