Chaz Mostert has broken through for the first win of his Supercars championship defence, winning the opening Tasmania Super 440 race.
Pole-sitter Mostert blitzed the pack in his Walkinshaw TWG Racing car, winning the opening 120km sprint at Symmons Plain Raceway by a massive 5.322 seconds on Saturday.
But the 34-year-old couldn’t back up his race win, with Andre Heimgartner also converting pole position to triumph in the second 50-lap sprint race later in the day.
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Mostert’s win was his first since since Sandown in November last year, having endured growing pains with the new Toyota Supra this season.
His best result before Saturday’s opening race had been a third-place finish in the final Taupo race last month, with teammate Ryan Wood claiming the first win for Supra in New Zealand.
Veteran racer David Reynolds was second for Team 18, with Brodie Kostecki prevailing in a tense battle with series leader Broc Feeney for third.
“Just super pumped to get a win for Toyota,” Mostert told Fox Sports.
“So awesome to see Ryan do it in New Zealand, I felt a little bit left out.
“It’s nice to join the tally for the year. Just a cool reward for all the guys and girls at Walkinshaw TWG Racing. They’ve built a brand new car coming into this year, and starting to get some results so early in the season is really cool.”
Dick Johnson Racing driver Kostecki — second behind Feeney in the standings — had qualified third but was relegated to fifth on the grid after impeding rookie Jackson Walls in qualifying.
Triple Eight star Feeney settled for fourth.
“That was pretty hard work,” Kostecki said.
“Broc’s a really smart racer, so he knew every move I was going to do.
“I had to make sure I was really decisive on what I was going to do.”
Feeney was also held off by Brad Jones Racing driver Heimgartner in Saturday’s second race, making it two Toyota victories to open the Tasmania Super 440.
Qualifying 13th, Mostert was condemned to 20th after copping a 15-second penalty for sending PremiAir Racing rookie Jayden Ojeda off track on lap 15.
Reynolds was also handed a 15-second penalty for a similar incident, slamming into the rear of Kostecki’s Ford.
Reynolds finished 17th, while Kostecki could only complete five laps.
Bathurst 1000 winner Matt Payne finished third, ahead of Feeney’s teammate Will Brown.
Race 14 results
1. Chaz Mostert (Walkinshaw TWG Racing)
2. David Reynolds (Team 18)
3. Brodie Kostecki (Dick Johnson Racing)
4. Broc Feeney (Triple Eight Race Engineering)
5. Andre Heimgartner (Brad Jones Racing)
Race 15 results
1. Andre Heimgartner (BJR)
2. Broc Feeney (Triple Eight)
3. Matt Payne (Grove Racing)
4. Will Brown (Triple Eight)
5. Anton De Pasquale (Team 18)
Supercars championship standings
1. Broc Feeney (Triple Eight)
2. Brodie Kostecki (DJR)
3. Matt Payne (Grove)
4. Cam Waters (Tickford Racing)
5. Ryan Wood (Walkinshaw)
