Symmons Plains, Tasmania, August 18, 2024 – A successful weekend in Tasmania, including another victory for the Ford Mustang, has Blue Oval teams primed for the biggest races of the Supercars championship season.
Cam Waters added another win to the Mustang’s total for 2024 at Symmons Plains on Sunday, with Chaz Mostert bagging a second place in the Saturday opener, and Thomas Randle taking his first pole position of the season.
All Mustang teams and drivers are now looking ahead to the two-driver endurance events the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000.
The Gen3 Supercars are capable of lapping the short Symmons Plains racetrack in just over 50 seconds, meaning there were tiny margins across the field all weekend.
Mostert was the best of the Mustang runners on Saturday afternoon as he stormed into contention through the dying laps, falling just short of a challenge for the victory, while Waters was an all-the-way winner on Sunday.
“It’s a turning point leading into the enduros,” Waters said as he celebrated his win.
“We’ve got some good points and a bit more momentum going into the enduros.
“I love Sandown. Had a win there. Keen-as to get there, and Bathurst as well.”
The 2024 Supercars championship continues with the Sandown 500 in Melbourne from September 13-15.
Top Ford Race Results
Race 1:
Chaz Mostert - 2nd
Cam Waters - 4th
Ryan Wood - 11th
Thomas Randle - 12th
Anton De Pasquale - 14th
Race 2:
Cam Waters - 1st
Chaz Mostert - 4th
Ryan Wood - 8th
Will Davison - 11th
Anton De Pasquale - 14th
Team Owner/Principal Quotes
Rod Nash, Tickford Racing
- “A good weekend for us. And really good to get another front-row lock-up on Sunday, for the second meeting in a row.
- “Cam Waters got on with it and did the win easily although Tom got into a bit of a battle off pole and it was tough for him with a penalty for contact.
- “The point is that he’s at the pointy end and he’s got to be a warrior. He is a great teammate in the competitive sense, so he needs to keep charging on.
- “On Saturday, with the cold and wet, we didn’t quite pull it off but the consistency we're showing in the points tally is what it’s all about.
- “The championship has definitely tightened up and it’s nice to see both brands very competitive with each other.”
Carl Faux, Walkinshaw Andretti United
- “It was a positive weekend for us. Our focus has been on the super-soft tyre since our problems in Darwin, and it looks like we’re on top of it.
- “We had a rookie test with Ryan Wood before this weekend and we got through a lot of things. We seem to have finally unlocked a bit of speed on the super-soft.
- “Things obviously went well on Saturday, but we got caught out a bit in the melee of qualifying on Sunday. To get both cars into the Top 10 was super-important in the second race.
- “So we’re in a positive frame of mind heading to Sandown. The track has a lot of similar characteristics to Symmons Plains and we’ll be on the super-soft tyre again.
- “We’ve got a pre-enduro test coming up, so we can take the positives out of this weekend and continue working in a good direction. We love the longer races so I’m glad this was the final sprint race of the year and we can move forward to some proper racing.”
Stephen Grove, Grove Racing
- “This has been a poor weekend for us. We just didn’t execute well enough. We made too many mistakes.
- “You’ve only got to be a little bit off the pace to suffer and qualifying let us down. When you’re towards the back of the grid it’s hard to go forward.”
- “Still, we’re super excited as we head into the enduro season, with Dale Wood and Garth Tander joining us as co-drivers.
- “We think we’ve got the right team and the right package to do the job at Sandown and Bathurst.”
David Noble, Dick Johnson Racing
- “We’ve had better weekends. We're frustrated and disappointed.
- “We were able to come back through on Sunday, but we but cannot rely on that. We’ve got to deliver better and have more consistent performances in both qualifying and races.
- “We’ve got a test day in early September, so it will be nice to give the co-drivers a bit more track time. And there is some homework we have ready to take forward to the enduros.
- “Doing well at Sandown and Bathurst is a challenge in itself, that’s what we’ve got ahead of us. We’re not shying away from it.”
Tim Blanchard, Blanchard Racing Team
- “It was obviously a tough weekend. But there were probably a few positives. Our pit-stops were really competitive.
- “The car speed was quite good at times through the weekend, which it hasn’t been at some rounds.
- “As tough as it was, there are some positives from the weekend. We’ve probably got to work on our execution.
- “The speed was there for Aaron Love on Saturday, but starting from 13th meant he got some rough treatment and that’s the challenge of his rookie season.
- “Looking forward, we're bringing Aaron Cameron and Jack Perkins into the team and we’re looking forward to their insights and their contribution to the team enduros.”
Ford Driver Championship Standings
2. Chaz Mostert, 1899 points
4. Cam Waters, 1630
5. Matt Payne, 1419
7. Will Davison, 1326
8. Thomas Randle, 1267
10. Anton De Pasquale, 1213
14. Richie Stanaway, 1099
17. Ryan Wood, 1045
20. James Courtney, 860
24. Aaron Love, 673
ENDS