Darwin Supercars: Mostert wins dramatic opener
Chaz Mostert emerged on top of a dramatic opening Supercars sprint race at Hidden Valley in Darwin.
The race got off to a dramatic start, with polesitter Anton De Pasquale the centrepiece of a first-corner pile-up.
The Dick Johnson Racing driver's woes started when he was outfoxed by Shane van Gisbergen into Turn 1, his Triple Eight rival drifting right before pulling a surprise move down the inside.
De Pasquale was then tapped into a spin by Scott Pye, who bounced over the inside kerb, before being hit again by a slow-starting Mark Winterbottom.
There was another few hits coming too, Todd Hazelwood, Jack Smith, Fabian Coulthard and Garry Jacobson all crunching into De Pasquale's stricken Mustang.
Pye was slapped with a drive-through penalty for triggering the crash.
The clean-up soaked up the first six laps of the race, the race going green again to start Lap 7. At that point van Gisbergen was leading, with Nick Percat and Mostert sitting second and third.
They ran in that order until Lap 10 when Mostert slid up the inside of Percat into Turn 1. The Walkinshaw Andretti United driver then settled into second, a little over two seconds behind the leader.
At that point it looked like van Gisbergen's race to lose, until he came in for his Lap 22 stop. A stubborn right-rear wheel nut meant the service took a whole 30 seconds, van Gisbergen re-joining the race way down in 20th.
That left Mostert with a commanding lead, his final margin 12.3s as he took a second win for Walkinshaw Andretti United.
"Starting eighth I was just thinking I hope I get through Turn 1," said Mostert. "Then I lucked in to coming out of Turn 1 in third.
"I was pretty quick at the start and I was a bit worried about that, normally when you have a quick car at the start you get worried that the degradation is going to come. I'm super pumped, it's good to have a fast race car."
Cam Waters worked his way up to second by the finish after barging his way past Percat during the second stint.
Percat, meanwhile, finished third on the road but will now face a post-race investigation regarding a breach of the minimum tyre pressure regulations.
His car was clocked with pressures under the minimum 17psi as he rolled down pitlane following his stop, that matter now in the hands of the stewards.
Fourth came down to a battle between the two Boost-backed drivers Brodie Kostecki and James Courtney.
That battle came to a head three laps from the end when Courtney dived up the inside of Kostecki at Turn 5. The pair made contact, Kostecki short-cutting the track to Turn 7 to retain his position before being hit with a five-second penalty for an improper re-join.
That dropped him from fourth on the road to ninth in the results.
Kostecki's teammate Will Brown, racing in the stifling heat without a working cool suit, finished fifth behind Courtney.
Brothers Jake and Kurt Kostecki finished an impressive sixth and seventh ahead of Tim Slade.
Van Gisbergen fought his way back to 13th, one spot behind teammate Jamie Whincup on what was a tough day for Triple Eight.
That means his series lead was only cut by two points back to 188, although Mostert is now only 190 points behind the Kiwi.
Race results:
| Cla | # | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 |  Chaz Mostert |
Holden Commodore ZB | |
| 2 | 6 | Cameron Waters |
Ford Mustang GT | 12.390 |
| 3 | 8 | Nick Percat |
Holden Commodore ZB | 15.361 |
| 4 | 44 | James Courtney |
Ford Mustang GT | 21.421 |
| 5 | 9 | Will Brown |
Holden Commodore ZB | 23.315 |
| 6 | 34 | Jake Kostecki |
Holden Commodore ZB | 24.763 |
| 7 | 27 | Kurt Kostecki |
Holden Commodore ZB | 25.244 |
| 8 | 3 | Tim Slade |
Ford Mustang GT | 25.660 |
| 9 | 99 | Brodie Kostecki | Holden Commodore ZB | 25.730 |
| 10 | 55 | Thomas Randle |
Ford Mustang GT | 25.984 |
| 11 | 2 | Bryce Fullwood |
Holden Commodore ZB | 26.497 |
| 12 | 88 | Jamie Whincup |
Holden Commodore ZB | 26.704 |
| 13 | 97 |  Shane van Gisbergen |
Holden Commodore ZB | 28.509 |
| 14 | 17 | Will Davison |
Ford Mustang GT | 29.240 |
| 15 | 7 | Andre Heimgartner |
Ford Mustang GT | 30.089 |
| 16 | 35 | Zane Goddard |
Holden Commodore ZB | 35.349 |
| 17 | 96 | Macauley Jones |
Holden Commodore ZB | 36.924 |
| 18 | 22 | Garry Jacobson |
Holden Commodore ZB | 37.117 |
| 19 | 26 | David Reynolds |
Ford Mustang GT | 37.467 |
| 20 | 5 | Jack Le Brocq |
Ford Mustang GT | 39.622 |
| 21 | 20 | Scott Pye |
Holden Commodore ZB | 2 laps |
| 22 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom |
Holden Commodore ZB | 9 laps |
| 11 | Anton De Pasquale |
Ford Mustang GT | ||
| 19 | Fabian Coulthard |
Holden Commodore ZB | ||
| 14 | Todd Hazelwood |
Holden Commodore ZB | ||
| 4 | Jack Smith |
Holden Commodore ZB | ||
| View full results | ||||
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