What the Supercars teams said: Race 17 Tasmania

The opening race of the Tasmania SuperSprint sprung a surprise from Nick Percat, hear how the drivers reacted.

Matt Stone Racing – P1 Nick Percat P6 Cam Hill

Nick Percat and Matt Stone. Image: Mark Horsburgh

It was a day to remember for MSR with a smashing stop and clutch final stint delivering Percat a memorable win, while under the radar teammate Hill had a composed drive to sixth.

“The Bendix Racing car has been on rails since we rolled out the truck,” Percat said. It is a pleasure to drive. I can’t thank Matt Stone, Jack Bellotti, everyone on my car enough. The faith is there, and when you’ve got the faith you go well. The thing was a jet.”

“It was an awesome day for the whole team. For me to convert my quali result was really cool to get another top 10 and for Nick to grab the win, it’s MSR’s best day yet,” Hill said.

Walkinshaw Andretti United – P2 Chaz Mostert P11 Ryan Wood

Chaz Mostert. Image: DMAC Photography

WAU almost did it again strategy wise with Mostert flying from fourth to second on four fresh tyres but fell 0.6s short as Wood had an okay day, qualifying a strong seventh, but just falling out of the 10.

“Awesome day in Tassie, didn’t expect to qualify fifth but really happy with that, that in itself felt like a win if I’m honest,” Mostert said. We ran with a different strategy than everyone else but it really complimented our cars, a real credit to the team, they got me the podium today.”

“It was pretty cool to qualify in the top 10 today, the team have done a heap of work over the break to tune these cars up and they’ve done an awesome job. Another big learning day, I’ve never been to this track before so pretty happy to be knocking on the top 10 for my first race here,” Wood said.

Triple Eight – P3 Broc Feeney P7 Will Brown

Broc Feeney leads the field. Image: DMAC Photography

Feeney looked ominous from pole but was outdone on strategy by both MSR and WAU, while Brown made good use of four fresh tyres to charge from 15th to seventh and recover some points.

“It was great to get pole position again. We’ve been focusing a lot on qualifying,” Feeney said. I struggled quite a bit with some of the cars coming out of the pits, got caught up with those guys and ended up losing that gap. Unfortunately, we got jumped a little bit in the pits and got chased down by Chaz on three tires at the end, but Nick was really fast in the last stint.”

“The boys did a great job on strategy as always, and I was able to move forward 8 positions to P7 which was great,” Brown said. It was another recovery drive again today, I have to sort out qualifying and start from the front. I was disappointed in qualifying with the red flag. I have a lot of confidence in how good our car is.”

Tickford – P4 Cam Waters P12 Thomas Randle

Cam Waters. Image: DMAC Photography

Waters was in the fight for victory but didn’t quite have enough pace to seriously challenge and slipped from second to fourth, while Randle, hurt from his Q2 spin battled hard to 12th.

“A few touches with the others. It was a pretty intense race but I put my hand up for my mistake in qualifying,” Randle said. “I think we had a top 10 car but to claw back to 12th was good. It was a very intense race.”

Erebus – P5 Brodie Kostecki P23 Jack Le Brocq

Brodie Kostecki. Image: DMAC Photography

Brodie Kostecki led the way with a solid day at the front of the field, starting third and holding onto fifth, unable to keep up with the top four. After a fast Friday, Le Brocq battled towards the back.

“We didn’t have the pace of the front runners at the start on high fuel but the car felt pretty towards the end. Just need to give it a bit more turn. All in all good day,” Kostecki said.

PremiAir – P8 Tim Slade P14 James Golding

Tim Slade. Image: Supplied

Both PremiAir Camaros were fast in quali but didn’t have fresh rubber for Q3 but Slade carried on and overcame a clutch drama to be eighth. Golding has reported gearbox dramas and lost four spots to be 14th.

“It was not a bad day for me here in Tassie,” Slade said. The race was pretty uneventful, we had a bit of a clutch issue on the start but only lost one spot, and then we went round and round and had half-reasonable pace and finished P8.”

“We didn’t quite get it right today,” Golding said. “We settled in all right at the start and then we started losing a bit of pace, struggling with the rear of the car and then we also had a couple of gearbox issues as well – it was changing up from first straight to third a couple of times and then even getting into neutral. So that didn’t help our case.”

Team 18 – P9 David Reynolds P18 Mark Winterbottom

Mark Winterbottom. Image: Mark Horsburgh

A day started full of promise but neither Team 18 driver wanted rain. Reynolds ended up racing his way into the top 10 after just missing out on Q2, while Winterbottom was hurt by a clash with Heimgartner.

“After yesterday, I swear I was going to end up on the podium today,” Reynolds said. In the race, started 11th, got a reasonable start, battled around 11th to 12th and then had a bit of pace so made a few spots up and then we ended up 9th. We’re making gains, we’re in the ballpark and we just need to qualify better.”

“Frustrating day. We were unlucky with the red flag,” Winterbottom said. When you start on the back foot, you’re in traffic, it’s hard to pass and you’re out of sequence. I got crashed into at the hairpin at the end.”

Brad Jones Racing – P10 Bryce Fullwood P19 Macauley Jones P22 Andre Heimgartner P24 Jaxon Evans

Bryce Fullwood. Image: Supplied

Fullwood spearheaded BJR’s assault with his first top 10 since the very first race of 2024. Heimgartner was hit by a penalty for contact with “Frosty” while Evans suffered the same consequences for a run win with Le Brocq.

“Good day here in Tasmania,” Fullwood said. In qualifying, we just didn’t quite put our best foot forward with the red flags. We qualified 12th and come 10th in the race. So it’s good to pass a few cars.”

The car’s a bit speedy,” Heimgartner said. Enjoyed the race, made lots of good passes, and unfortunately, me and Winterbottom had a bit of a tangle at the end and got a penalty. But on the plus side the car was really speedy, so feel like we had something for once.”

“Can’t say that’s the result that we wanted from today but looking across the garage we know the cars have some speed,” Jones said.

“It was a pretty tough day today. Getting the penalty certainly didn’t help but it is what it is. We go again tomorrow,” Evans said.

Dick Johnson Racing – P13 Anton De Pasquale P15 Will Davison

Anton De Pasquale. Image: DMAC Photography

Davison admitted he “made a mess” of qualifying but made good ground in the race, while De Pasquale did not.

“Despite a tough qualifying session for us today, starting from the back, we managed to claw back 9 spots in the race and finish P15,” Davison said. Tomorrow’s a new day and we’ll take what we learnt today and try to convert it into qualifying pace.”

Grove Racing – P16 Richie Stanaway P17 Matt Payne

Richie Stanaway. Image: DMAC Photography

Tough day for Grove Racing with neither of the Penrite Mustangs able to get into the top 15. Payne rose from the last row by going longer than anyone despite being spun by Davison on the first lap as Stanaway more or less held position.

Blanchard Racing Team – P20 Aaron Love P21 James Courtney

Aaron Love. Image: BRT

It was a tale of what could have been for Love, who was on track for a PB finish but got bullied towards the back in one offtrack moment, while Courtney slumped in the final stint.

“James had a small drama which cost him 10 or 11 spots. Disappointing, but at least we were in the fight. Hope for a similar run without the drama,” John Blanchard said.

Tasmania SuperSprint schedule

Practice 1: 1: D. Reynolds 51.1376 2: J. Golding +0.1061 3: J. Le Brocq +0.1628

Practice 2: 1: R. Stanaway 54.4551 2: C. Waters +0.0520 3: C. Mostert +0.0716

Qualifying: 1: B. Feeney 50.9884 2: C. Waters +0.0820 3: B. Kostecki +0.0873

Race 17: 1: N. Percat 2: C. Mostert 3: B. Feeney

Practice 3: Sun 10.20-10.40

Qualifying: Sun 12.40-13.30

Race 18: Sun 15.05 (55 laps)

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