Percat victorious in Symmons Plains opener

A well-executed overcut strategy paid off for Matt Stone Racing’s Nick Percat, who kept a charging Chaz Mostert at bay for victory in the Tasmania SuperSprint opener at Symmons Plains.

Just 0.6 seconds separated Percat and Mostert at the line, with Broc Feeney following the pair home in third.

A strong recovery drive from championship leader Will Brown saw him climb from 15th on the grid to finish seventh, minimising his losses to Mostert, who moves to within 79 points of the Red Bull driver.

Ryan Wood was the first of five Kiwis home, crossing the line in 11th. Richie Stanaway led home teammate Matt Payne in 16th.

Payne, who started on the back row, had a half-spin on Lap 1 following contact from Will Davison, which lost him several seconds on the field.

He led several laps as the last driver to make his stop but charged his way back to 17th in the closing stages, setting a new race lap record in the process.

Fifteen-second penalties cost Andre Heimgartner and Jaxon Evans, who were classified as 22nd and 24th, respectively. Heimgartner had crossed the line in 13th, and Evans 19th.

Feeney and Cam Waters dominated the early stages of the race, with the former retaining the lead over the latter off the line and keeping him at arms-length through the opening stint.

Brodie Kostecki, who qualified third, lost out to Percat on Lap 1 and was also quickly passed by Mostert to fall to fifth.

There were nervous moments on Lap 7 when Aaron Love was run off line. He lost several spots as a result before contact from behind sent him off the track on the main straight and onto the wet grass. He did well to keep control of the car and returned to 22nd.

Wood was the first to stop, coming in from the top ten on Lap 17.

Up front, the top four had pulled 3.2 seconds clear of Kostecki by Lap 22, but that advantage quickly evaporated when Stanaway emerged from his stop directly in front of the lead group, albeit a lap down.

Waters was the first of the front runners to visit the pit lane, stopping from second on Lap 27.

Feeney and Mostert responded one tour later to cover a potential undercut, with the latter stopping longer and taking three times, compared to Feeney’s two.

Matt Stone Racing elected to run Percat one lap further, and a lightening 3.8-second stop saw him return to the track in front of Feeney, who had Waters right behind.

Brown, meanwhile, took four tyres on his Lap 32 stop and dropped to 18th before losing another spot when he locked up and ran long at Turn 4.

Changing an extra tyre paid dividends for WAU, with Mostert catching and passing Waters on Lap 41.

Percat, meanwhile, had fended off Feeney’s challenge and pulled to a 1.1-second advantage at the front.

Brown quietly picked his way through the field and approached the top ten.

Mostert caught Feeney on Lap 50 and quickly passed the pole-sitter to take second, leaving only Percat ahead.

First place proved a bridge too far for the title contender, who had to settle for second ahead of Feeney.

Waters was fourth, 3.3 seconds behind the leading trio, with Kostecki close behind.

Cameron Hill, Brown, Tim Slade, David Reynolds and Bryce Fullwood completed the top ten.

Supercars return to action at Symmons Plains with a 20-minute practice at 12.20 pm NZST on Sunday, before Race 18 qualifying at 2.40 pm and the final 55-lap outing at 5.05 pm.

Tasmania SuperSprint Race 1 Results

Header Image: Matt Stone Racing