Cam Waters has triumphed in a race-long battle with Chaz Mostert to take victory in the opening race of the Townsville 500.
Mostert finished 1.85 seconds behind the Tickford driver, while Will Brown salvaged good points from a disappointing qualifying effort of 13th to complete the podium.
Late stops worked to the favour of Matt Payne, who ran long in each pit window and overcame a deficit of over 12 seconds to the top six to greet the chequered flag in fourth.
Andre Heimgartner overcame a slow first stint to return to the top ten in ninth.
Richie Stanaway crossed the line in 14th, while Ryan Wood was 17th. Jaxon Evans finished 13 laps off the pace after he was caught out in the tail end of a Lap 1 incident.
The battle between Waters and Mostert began from the start, with the two getting even launches, but Waters retained the lead from the pole on the inside through Turn 2.
A multi-car collision in the midfield caught out several drivers, with Anton De Pasquale caught in the middle of a three-wide battle with Nick Percat on the outside and Brodie Kostecki inside coming out of Turn 2.
All three took damage, with Kostecki running with momentum into Turn 4 and turning Evans as a result.
Kostecki, De Pasquale and Percat stopped at the end of Lap 1, while Evans toured until Lap 7 before stopping with damage.
Waters remained at the front through the early stages ahead of Mostert, with Thomas Randle leading Will Davison, Jack Le Brocq, and a fast-starting Broc Feeney. Will Brown entered the top ten on Lap 8.
The two leaders remained in close proximity for the opening 20 laps, putting over 3 seconds on Randle. Mostert’s tyres began to fade earlier, seeing the Walkinshaw Andretti Mustang stop on Lap 28.
Waters followed a tour later and lost track position to Mostert.
Once the first round of stops was completed, Davison had climbed to third, ahead of Randle, Feeney, Le Brocq, Brown, Golding and Payne.
Mostert pulled to a slender 1.4-second advantage through the middle stint, but Waters fought back to remain within range.
Tim Slade, who qualified 24th, had his miserable day continue when he was forced into his garage mid-race with power steering issues.
Heimgartner, who had dropped as low as 13th through the first stint, climbed back into the top ten on Lap 51, right as Waters returned on the tail of Mostert.
A thrilling battle at the front followed over the ensuing laps. Waters looked to take the advantage on Lap 52, but Mostert executed a precise crisscross to retain the position.
Waters tried again a tour later, but Mostert again responded, remaining in the lead until the Tickford driver finally got the position on Lap 54 at Turn 3.
The battle at the front brought Randle back into the equation, and he followed Waters through for a Tickford one-two on-track.
Davison also got ahead of Mostert on Lap 54 before both dove into the pits. The Walkinshaw Andretti Mustang regained the position, requiring less fuel.
Waters remained in the lead as the others from the front group stopped, dropping to a net fifth when he finally came in for the final time on Lap 60, with Mostert returning to the front.
Waters quickly passed Le Brocq for fourth and then climbed to third over Davison on Lap 71, sitting 3.1 seconds behind Randle and Mostert, who were locked in their own battle for the lead.
Feeney and Brown were also making good ground, as was Payne, who stopped for the final time with 24 laps remaining and dropped to eighth.
Davison’s pace faded late in the race, and the Shell V-Power Mustang dropped to eighth. Feeney was sixth, behind Brown and ahead of Payne.
With the battle for the lead on, a sudden rain shower quickly covered the venue as the race entered its final ten laps.
Teams remained on slicks despite the conditions, but the pace of the field drastically slowed.
On fresher tyres, Waters was eating into the advantage of the two leaders, and he took second off Randle on Lap 79 of 88.
He then passed Mostert on Lap 81 to hit the front, where he remained at the chequered flag.
Brown passed Randle over the closing stages to take the final podium spot. Payne followed through on Lap 85 for fourth but ran out of time to challenge for the podium places.
Supercars returns for Race 14 qualifying at 12.05 pm on Sunday, with the Top 10 Shootout following at 2.05 pm.
Race 14 goes green at 4.40 pm and will be shown live on Sky Sport.
