Sydney, NSW, February 23, 2025 – Cameron Waters steered his Ford Mustang Supercar to perfection at the opening round the 2025 Supercars Championship at Sydney Motorsport Park, claiming three wins, three poles, and three fastest laps across the weekend.
Ford couldn’t have asked for a stronger start to its 2025 campaign, which also saw Chaz Mostert and Thomas Randle finish second and third in the first 100km race for a Blue Oval lockout of the podium (with Matthew Payne making it an all-Mustang Top Four).
There was strong speed shown across all the Ford squads during the weekend, with Brodie Kostecki making a strong debut in Blue, finishing in the Top Five in his first weekend with stalwart team Dick Johnson Racing, while Matthew Payne, Ryan Wood, Will Davison, and Kai Allen also qualifying within the Top 10 across the event’s three days.
Waters’ hat-trick of pole positions helped elevate Ford to the outright lead on the all-time qualifying leaderboard – with Blue Oval drivers starting first 387 times in Supercars history.
The highlight of the Sydney 500 event was a Saturday night showdown that will go down in history as not only top-tier entertainment, but the closest competitive finish in Supercars since 1988 as Waters used a perfectly executed side draft to sneak past rival Broc Feeney as the pair raced across the line. The final margin of victory was a scant 0.0308 seconds!
Waters’ down-to-the-wire victory was hard-fought as he tussled with both the leading Chevrolet drivers in the closing stanza – rubbing panels and banging doors in a showstopping display of race craft. Taking into account all three podium finishers it was the closest finish to a race the sport has ever seen.
On Sunday a late rain shower turned the final laps of the third race into a tense thriller as cars slipped and slithered around the treacherous Sydney circuit, with Mostert coming home third to secure the 100th podium of his career.
“It was so much fun. We fought hard; we never gave up. I gave it my all and it was an epic finish,” Waters said after his Saturday success.
“It was awesome to get the win and get this Ford Mustang into P1.”
Tickford Racing leaves the weekend at the top of the Teams’ Championship standings, meaning they will have the coveted position at the top of pit lane for the next round – a first in the team’s history.
The 2025 Supercars Championship continues at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne from March 13-16.
Top Ford Race Results
Race 1
Qualifying:
Cameron Waters – 1st
Matthew Payne – 3rd
Brodie Kostecki – 4th
Thomas Randle – 5th
Ryan Wood – 7th
Chaz Mostert – 8th
Kai Allen – 10th
Race:
Cameron Waters – 1st
Chaz Mostert – 2nd
Thomas Randle – 3rd
Matthew Payne – 4th
Brodie Kostecki – 6th
Race 2
Top 10 Shootout:
Cameron Waters – 1st
Chaz Mostert – 3rd
Thomas Randle – 4th
Matthew Payne – 5th
Ryan Wood – 6th
Race:
Cameron Waters – 1st
Chaz Mostert – 4th
Matthew Payne – 5th
Thomas Randle – 6th
Race 3:
Top 10 Shootout:
Cameron Waters – 1st
Brodie Kostecki – 3rd
Matthew Payne – 4th
Will Davison – 7th
Chaz Mostert – 10th
Race:
Cameron Waters – 1st
Chaz Mostert – 3rd
Brodie Kostecki – 4th
Matthew Payne – 6th
Will Davison – 9th
Team Owner/Principal Quotes
Rod Nash, Tickford Racing
- “For Cam Waters to do what he did this weekend is nothing short of amazing. It’s a royal flush. It’s an astounding feat to claim three pole positions, three wins and three fastest laps all at a single event. It was great for Thomas Randle to get a podium as well.
- “And the theatrics over the weekend have been great. Nobody could have written the script for the finish on Saturday night.
- “For Ford, it’s a good delivery on all the hard work on developing the Mustang and we’re now in a position to really fight hard for the championship.”
Carl Faux, Walkinshaw Andretti United
- “Chaz drove well to finish the weekend with a pair of podiums and Ryan Wood is 10 places up on where he was at this time last year.
- “It’s a different championship this year. You’ve just got to stay in the Top 10 and make sure you have a fast car for the end of the season.
- “That means we’re exploring things differently than we would have last year. We can take more risks.
- “We’re allowing ourselves the freedom to look for things that will make us the fastest at the end of the year. We’ve found some things that might not work at SMP but will definitely work at other places.”
Stephen Grove, Grove Racing
- “It was a good start for 2025, but Tickford seemed to be the team that put it all together this weekend.
- “Our drivers did a good job, and it was great to see Kai Allen progress through the field and get plenty of experience. We’ve got to give him time to develop.
- “We were competitive at the Grand Prix last year, so we’ll go there hopefully looking for a podium. Matty Payne was really strong there last year so we’re reasonably confident.”
David Noble, Dick Johnson Racing
- “We’re coming, we’re coming. The last race this weekend, with Brodie Kostecki in fourth, feels like a win. And Will Davison also drove well.
- “Considering all the off-season changes, across the whole organisation, we worked really well together.
- “We’ll go away and assess, continue to build, and get stronger. The energy is very good.”
Tim Blanchard, Blanchard Racing Team
- “We have definitely taken a step forward, especially on James Courtney’s car. To have him sitting 12th in the championship after the first weekend is really satisfying. It’s a good outcome.
- “We were struggling a bit in qualifying but happy to convert that into decent race results.
- “Sydney was our worst round last year so we’ve showed we have made significant steps forward and now we need to keep that momentum going.”
Ford Driver Championship Standings
1. Cam Waters, 315 points
3. Chaz Mostert, 250
5. Matt Payne, 212
6. Thomas Randle, 182
8. Brodie Kostecki, 174
12. James Courtney, 116
14. Ryan Wood, 92
15. Will Davison, 91
20. Kai Allen, 76
23. Aaron Love, 59
ENDS
