Mostert & Wood lockout Perth Supersprint opener front row for WAU

Walkinshaw Andretti United have locked out the front row for the opening race of the Perth SuperSprint, with Chaz Mostert leading home Kiwi rookie Ryan Wood in this afternoon’s three-part qualifying session.

Mostert’s 54.5628-second run in Qualifying 3 was 0.1411 seconds to the good of his teammate. Wood had led at the halfway point of the final session but was overcome by Mostert, Waters and Brown in the final minutes before he bettered his time at the chequered flag for a front-row start.

Waters will start from third, next to championship leader Will Brown, who has his teammate Broc Feeney alongside Cameron Hill on the row behind.

Kiwi Matt Payne will start from eighth, alongside James Courtney, who survived a tight Q1 session that required him to use an extra set of tyres. That decision would cost Penrite Racing, with Payne forced to sit out the final runs of Q3.

James Golding and Tim Slade complete the top ten. Richie Stanaway will start from 11th, Taupo winner Andre Heimgartner is 15th, and rookie Jaxon Evans is 21st.

Mostert and Wood were quick across all three sessions and hit the front after the first round of runs in Qualifying 1, with Brown and then Waters jumping to third and Reynolds to fifth, leaving less than one-tenth separating the top five.

Payne struggled with early pace and languished in 21st with 2 minutes of the 10 remaining, but he improved to 17th on his next run. He would drop back down the order as later times came in, but he had one lap up his sleeve.

The Adelaide 500 race winner would survive, jumping to seventh when he met the chequered flag. Tim Slade also put in a late flyer to split Mostert and Wood, who both remained in pit lane following their fast early laps.

The four drivers eliminated were Evans, Aaron Love, Mark Winterbottom, and Macauley Jones.

Amazingly, only 0.3899 seconds separated the entire 24-car field.

Waters and Randle put one-tenth on the field in the first runs of Qualifying 2, with Wood remaining near the top in fourth and Heimgartner fifth. All 20 cars returned to the pits before venturing out for final runs with three minutes remaining to determine the top ten.

Brown and Feeney came to life on the penultimate laps, climbing along with Golding to the top of the leaderboard. Waters jumped to fourth, ahead of Wood and Mostert. Cam Hill, Slade, Payne and James Courtney were the drivers to make the final ten.

Richie Stanaway qualified 11th, just 0.0061 short of progressing Q3. Heimgartner was 15th, two-tenths off the final spot.

Wood led Q3 proceedings at the halfway point, with only Hill remaining on track mid-session and climbing his way to second by doing so.

Having used an extra set of tyres in Q1, Payne remained in pit lane while sitting fifth, as did Courtney in third.

Once back on track, Mostert bettered his teammate, with Waters and Brown moving into the top three and relegating Wood to fourth.

The Kiwi responded the next lap, setting a 54.7039 to climb back to second, behind only Mostert.

That was how it remained, with Mostert on pole ahead of Wood, Waters, Brown, Feeney, Hill, Courtney, Payne, Golding and Slade.

The opening race of the Perth Supersprint begins at 7.45 pm.

Perth SuperSprint Race 1 Grid

Header Image: Walkinshaw Andretti United