Cam Waters has held off a late Shane van Gisbergen charge to win this evening’s Gold Coast 500 opener on the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit. Just 0.19 seconds separated the pair at the chequered flag, with the Kiwi sitting third with just ten laps to run before passing David Reynolds and eating into Waters’ three-second lead over the final stages.
The 2023 Bathurst 1000 winner would ultimately run out of time to get the move done, settling for second, ahead of Reynolds.
A slow second stop would ultimately cost Thomas Randle, who had been on the pace early, resulting in the Tickford driver finishing fourth, one spot ahead of championship leader Brodie Kostecki.
Van Gisbergen outscored his title rival by 27 points in the Gold Coast opener, meaning just 104 points separate the pair heading into the final three races of the season.
Scott Pye managed a late move on Andre Heimgartner to claim sixth after Chaz Mostert received a 5-second penalty post-race for repeated track limit violations, which dropped him to eighth.
Two time penalties ultimately cost Matt Payne a strong result after qualifying on the front row, the Kiwi rookie first incurring a five-second penalty for running side-by-side with James Courtney through the Beach Chicane, despite the latter holding a slight advantage on entry. He also had five seconds added to his time post-race for repeated kerb strikes.
Courtney suffered the same fate as Payne post-race but held tenth.
Will Brown came home for a commendable 11th, having started from 25th.
Supercars return to action with Race 26 qualifying at 1.05 pm tomorrow (NZ time), followed by the Top 10 Shootout at 2.35 pm and the race at 5.15 pm.
Header Image: Supercars
