Cam Waters put in a powerful performance on Saturday to win the 18th and final sprint race of the 2024 Supercars season at Symmons Plains on Sunday.
The Tickford Ford Mustang driver began second on the grid and capitalised on a mistake from team-mate Thomas Randle on the opening lap. Randle, who had turn out to be the ninth pole-sitter of the 2024 season earlier within the day, made a small mistake at Turn 4 to permit Waters to pass.
That was enough to secure the advantage, especially as the protection automobile got here out on lap seven, forcing Randle to attend for a tire change and losing his place to Will Brown (Chevrolet Camaro Triple Eight).
“I’m very happy to win,” Waters said after his victory in 6.34 seconds.
“Tommy made a little mistake in turn 4, I'm devastated. I was just trying to keep the advantage, I'm not sure what happened. We weren't good on the Super Soft [tyre] and yesterday I didn't make full use of it.”
Brown, who began fourth on the grid, found himself under pressure from Randle within the second half of the race; the 2 cars collided twice, dropping Randle to fourth, benefiting Broc Feeney (Triple Eight).
Then, with five laps to go, Randle spun out at Turn 4, dropping the team to sixth and sixteenth respectively, but a 15-second penalty dropped Randle to simply 18th.
Randle was devastated after the race and went to the Triple Eight garage to apologise to Feeney for the collision, but team manager Mark Dutton refused to let him inside.
“I overdid it on Turn 4,” Randle admitted. “I’m devastated by what happened at the end of the race, it was my fault. It just seems unreal.”
In third place, taking his first podium finish of the season, was the Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet of Bryce Fullwood, who took advantage of the chaos ahead but showed consistent speed and favourable tyre wear.
Chaz Mostert, who began eleventh, worked his way through the sector to complete fourth in his Walkinshaw Andretti United Ford, missing out on qualifying by 0.04 seconds, but once more his Mustang showed real race pace within the 55-lap race.
Jack Le Brocq finished fifth on a difficult day for Erebus Motorsport ahead of Andre Heimgartner (Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet) and one other driver who made a giant comeback in Nick Percat. Saturday’s race winner began twenty fourth and last in his Matt Stone Racing Chevrolet after a qualifying error, but fought his way through the pack and kept a clean sheet to complete seventh.
As a result, Brown now has an 81-point lead within the championship, 1980 higher than Mostert's 1899. Feeney is in third place with 1782, ahead of Waters (1630), Matt Payne (1419) and Percat (1368).
“I spun to the front right on the first lap and by the end I was feeling the pain,” said Brown after extending his championship lead.
“It sucks for Broc, but it's great to be back on the podium. I just didn't have enough for Cam today.”
Following the ultimate sprint race of the season, the teams will now turn their attention to the season-opening two-driver endurance race, the Sandown 500, which can happen on 14-15 September.
