Mostert hunts down Payne in strategy game

The 2024 Supercars night race has gone to Chaz Mostert after he hunted down Matt Payne in a tense strategy game in Sydney.

Despite starting 10th, Penrite Racing rolled the dice for the second race in a row and it almost paid off.

A one-stop strategy pushed Payne into a 15s lead with 18 laps left, but Mostert was a hungry figure on fresh tyres.

In the end the WAU driver’s pace proved too overwhelming and he cruised past to take a 2.6s win in a special livery saluting half a century of Mobil 1.

Joining them on the podium was Thomas Randle, who led the first 17 laps but was undone on strategy and pace.

DJR teammates Will Davison and Anton De Pasquale completed the top five with Will Brown gaining good points in sixth with Broc Feeney ninth. Payne was the only driver in the top 10 to utilise the one-step strategy.

“It is a long old slog around here but the car was really good,” Mostert said in victory lane.

“I was thinking when they told me Matty was right up the road I knew the pace our car could do and hoped with his deg. He was probably man of the match for looking after those tyres, but our team were men of the match. We had a super fast car.”

NIGHT MOVES

Tickford teammates Thomas Randle and Cameron Waters lead the field through turn 1 after the start. Image: Peter Norton EPIC Sports Photography

After all the driver introductions and fireworks, the annual Supercars night race began and Randle got the better jump and had his nose in front of Waters going into Turn 1, but the #55 appeared to be quite accommodating to his teammate on the inside.

However, the younger Tickford was extremely committed on corner exit and used his momentum to swing around the outside and take the lead.

Behind them there was drama as Macauley Jones was spun by an out of control Mark Winterbottom, who locked up and speared into the #96. Winterbottom ended up in the garage as a result and lost nine laps.

Turn 2 proved to be an action zone as two laps later Fullwood also found trouble at the hairpin and spun.

Whilst Mostert and De Pasquale held station, Payne got another lightning start and made up four spots inside the first two laps to make it an all Ford top six as Feeney dropped to spots to seventh, right in front of teammate Brown.

Randle was showing no nerves leading the field and swiftly built more than half a second buffer on Waters, who had Mostert on his tail.

By Lap 11 the #25 made its first move and had looks at Turns 2 and 4 but was not quite close enough.

But it proved to be third time lucky as Mostert squeezed past on the inside around Corporate Hill to end the Tickford 1-2.

Whilst there was pain on one side of the garage, there were quiet cheers on the other as Randle’s lead suddenly ballooned by the best part of 2s.

MOVES IN THE LANE

Cam Waters and Tickford lost some ground in the pits. Image: Peter Norton

Kostecki, sitting 16th, was the first to box on Lap 12, suggesting a two-stop strategy, which forced Percat, Slade and Stanaway to react.

The first of the leaders to pit was De Pasquale from fourth on Lap 15, which released Davison.

Randle had built a 3.3s buffer before boxing at the end of Lap 17, being shadowed by Mostert and Feeney.

The WAU driver was able to gain significant time on pit entry and the #25 rejoined in front of the #55.

Waters followed a lap later and also lost a position due to receiving more fuel, being forced to rejoin right behind Davison after a moment of hesitation.

Two cars that got too close for comfort in the lane were Le Brocq and Heimgartner as the Erebus Camaro got a clip and almost spun when trying to merge in front of the BJR Kiwi.

Due to the drama, Le Brocq received a 15s penalty.

Meanwhile running long was Payne, who was using clear air to sit around 30s ahead of effective leader Mostert.

The Kiwi waited until Lap 23 to pit with a 25s over Mostert and the long stop meant the #19 rejoined 22nd albeit on a vastly different strategy to his rivals.

By the halfway point everyone had stopped, leaving Mostert in the lead with a 5s advantage over Randle and De Pasquale an equal distance back.

Waters suddenly found himself in the wars, bumping with Reynolds and having a wild side by side moment with Feeney at the fastest point of the circuit.

Waters soon regained that position back, which allowed Brown, Reynolds and Wood to also pounce on the #88 in a spirited battle.

It ended in tears with Reynolds rotating whilst being side by side with Feeney at Turn 5.

TORTOISE AND THE HARE

A bold strategy almost paid off again for Matt Payne, who embraces with Brenton Grove. Image: Peter Norton

Payne was completely on his own with the one-stop strategy and was playing the waiting game, sitting 50s back and outside the top 20.

Meanwhile, those on two stops first blinked on Lap 31 where De Pasquale, Waters, Percat and Kostecki all received their final doses of fuel.

Once again the Tickford team lost track position in the lane with the MSR driver jumping the #6 as Davison snuck ahead of teammate De Pasquale.

Mostert’s time in the lead ended on Lap 33 and he retained track position, being well clear (12s) of the DJR Mustangs.

A lap later he was shadowed by Randle, who emerged 5s behind Mostert after being slowed slightly due to the sister WAU entry of Wood being in the lane.

However, critically the less time in the lane allowed Payne to snatch significant track position, with the #19 15s ahead of the #25 with 18 laps left.

But with Payne patiently trying to keep the tyres alive and Mostert on the charge with fresher rubber, that gap was suddenly slashed to 10s with 13 to go as the WAU driver was hunting him down at a second per lap.

Behind them Randle had around 9s either side of him in a safe third with Davison fourth.

But MSR also utilised the one stop strategy to push Hill from 19th to fifth but he was soon eaten up on degrading tyres by Percat, Brown and Waters, who had dropped to ninth due to a slow fuel rate, while Kostecki was able to to get into the top 10 with the undercut.

Feeney fell to 14th but was on a recovery mission in the final stint and gained four spots in quick time to knock Kostecki out of the 10.

The reigning champion regained the spot with a late move on Hill.

WAU predicted Mostert would catch Payne with five laps to go, but when that arrived the Penrite Racing driver had a 1s advantage.

But that was wiped out just a lap later and Mostert chose Turn 6 to make his move and snatched the lead with ease.

With Randle a further 7s back, Payne turned his attention to defending second and did it with ease.

Le Brocq had a tough day sitting 18th and to add insult to injury a fire emerged in the floor of his #9 Camaro.

That proved to be the final moment before the fireworks arrived as Mostert took the chequered flag.

After the spectacle of racing under the stars, the more traditional Sunday afternoon race awaits tomorrow over the same distance where tyre degradation will be an even bigger factor.

Supercars Sydney SuperNight Race 15 results

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