Waters shivers through ‘coldest’ Darwin race to clinch Supercars opener
DARWIN: Cameron Waters mastered comparatively cool conditions to take victory in the coldest Supercars race ever held in Darwin.
Starting from pole position, Brodie Kostecki won the start of the 100km, 35-lap race and led the field through the first corner as Waters forced his way past Anton De Pasquale for second.
Cameron Waters claimed victory in the opening race of the weekend in Darwin. Supercars
Kostecki struggled for pace in the opening laps and was among the first to take his compulsory pit stop once the window opened.
Waters didn’t pit until lap 20, and emerged just over a second behind Kostecki. It took him only a handful of laps to reel his fellow Mustang driver in, and he made the race-winning move down the inside into the first corner with 10 laps to go.
The safety car was briefly called with three laps left after the Camaro of David Reynolds failed to restart after a spin.
Just after the call was made, Reynolds was able to fire the car up and drive away, which gave organisers the chance for a one-lap dash to the finish.
Waters nailed the restart and defended from the Penrite Racing pair of Kai Allen and Matthew Payne, who both managed to get past Kostecki moments before the safety car was called.
“It’s been a hard slog for sure … I haven’t had the best start to the year, but we’ve still been there or thereabouts,” Waters said after the race.
“The team really put their heads together for this weekend and the car has been super speedy. As soon as I got into the first lap or two I knew I had a fast car and I just had to convert.”
Waters admitted he thought Kostecki was going to fight him harder for the race lead, but was glad to get the move done cleanly.
Heavily overcast skies meant the air temperature was about 10 degrees cooler than usual.
Brodie Kostecki had earlier taken pole position. Supercars
It was 22C at race start, as opposed to the usual mid-to-high 30s the drivers usually experience.
The category has been making the trek north to the Hidden Valley circuit annually since 1998. Never before had the temperature been so low during a Supercars session.
Friday’s bizarre weather is expected to be a one-off, with the weather forecast for the rest of the weekend to be a return to usual transmission – low-30s and clear skies.
Supercars go racing again with a 200km affair on Saturday afternoon, followed by another on Sunday.
Damien McCartney is in Darwin as a guest of Tourism and Entertainment Northern Territory.
