The Supercars Finals series burst into action in typical Gold Coast style, with a bruising time for some and good fortune for others at this critical juncture in the season.
This first-ever Elimination Final saw the first three names drop out of the championship race at the end of Sunday, while the likes of Chaz Mostert, with consecutive wins, booked his Semi Final tickets.
Mostert wins Race 28
Winless since the New Zealand round in April, the two-time Bathurst 1000 winner reignited his title prospects by becoming the first race winner in the Finals series and sealing his berth in the Sandown Semi Final.
The attrition-filled 85 laps almost ran to the two-hour mark, full of Safety Cars, incidents and misfortunes, not least for Mostert’s teammate Ryan Wood, who had claimed an emphatic pole in the Shootout earlier.
Mostert, starting from fourth, survived the chaos, including the pit-lane scramble on Lap 13 when the field rushed to service their cars during the first Safety Car triggered by loose sponsorship signage trackside.
Teams all sought to double stack, which in the narrow Gold Coast pits never ends well, and for Mostert it meant some push and shove from both Penrite Racing cars. Bathurst winner Matt Payne was penalised for being unsafely released into the path of the Mobil 1 Optus Mustang.
Making a final stop on Lap 61, Mostert then overhauled David Reynolds, Kai Allen and Jack Le Brocq to take the lead. Sprint Cup winner Broc Feeney, who already had the points advantage, also booked his Semi Final berth by finishing second, while Allen completed the top three.
Mostert pips Feeney to Race 29 win
The Saturday winner went back-to-back in a thrilling finish where the 33-year-old denied a hard-charging Feeney for victory in Race 29.
Feeney claimed a 15th pole position via the Shootout, equalling three-time Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin’s 2020 record for most poles in a single season.
Walkinshaw Andretti United outfoxed Red Bull Ampol Racing strategically, with Mostert able to pass Feeney through the second round of stops, then hold off the Sprint Cup winner in the closing laps.
On the penultimate lap, Feeney dived down the inside into Turn 11, but the gap was closing and his Red Bull Ampol Camaro brushed the left-side wall. The move put both leaders at risk, with Andre Heimgartner closing in on his first podium of the season.
Heimgartner completed the podium, keeping finalists Payne and Waters at bay, though both will still progress to the Semi Final.
A bruising Saturday
The streets of Surfers Paradise were as unforgiving as ever, adding extra peril to the Elimination Final for the ten championship hopefuls who arrived on the Gold Coast still in contention.
None were more bruised than 2023 Supercars champion Brodie Kostecki, who after a crash during Friday practice suffered a 19G impact during Qualifying at the Front Chicane, writing off his Shell V-Power Mustang for Race 28.
The impact of Kostecki’s crash into the Turn 2 barrier also injured four photographers, who were transferred to hospital and were thankfully declared “alert, talking and very stable,” according to a Supercars spokesperson.
Before the Q2 shunt, Kostecki’s car had already been patched up several times following brushes with the Beach Chicane tyre bundles.
Kostecki’s former teammate and reigning Supercars champion Will Brown also crashed ahead of the race, this time during the Top Ten Shootout at the Beach Chicane. Then on Lap 2 of the race, Brown spun Allen at Turn 11 en route to fifth. Brown ultimately escaped elimination.
And while neither were in Finals contention, the luckless run for Cooper Murray and Jaxon Evans continued. On the Lap 17 restart, rookie Murray clipped the Beach Chicane, losing a wheel and crashing straight into Evans’ SCT Logistics Camaro.
From 10 to 7
Anton De Pasquale, Brodie Kostecki and Ryan Wood were the unfortunate drivers knocked out in the Elimination Final as the number of title aspirants shrank from ten to seven.
Kostecki’s weekend was ruined by his qualifying crash on Saturday, leading to the car being written off for Race 28. While the Shell V-Power Racing outfit put in a huge effort to rebuild it for Sunday, nothing short of a win would have given the former champ the points to progress.
A similar fate befell Wood, who after his Bathurst heartbreak took a brilliant pole for Race 28, only to suffer a fuel leak while leading the race.
De Pasquale bowed out after a 15-second penalty for putting James Courtney into the wall at Turn 11 late in the race, despite charging through the field to threaten Thomas Randle and Kai Allen, who had their own battle.
At Sandown, if a driver wins one of the two 250km races, they will book a Grand Final berth. Red Bull Ampol Racing, Tickford and Penrite Racing all boast two drivers each for the Semi Final.
Driver movement galore
The driver market continued to play musical chairs following the Bathurst 1000, with Brad Jones Racing announcing that their fourth entry, owned by the Smith-family-run SCT Logistics, will shift to Triple Eight.
Taking on a third car for the first time since 2018, Triple Eight will run the SCT Logistics Mustang for rookie Jackson Walls — a left-field choice for the seat — who will step up from Super2.
Erebus star Jobe Stewart was also confirmed, after a standout performance in the Enduro Cup, to fill the vacancy left by Matt Stone Racing-bound Jack Le Brocq.
PremiAir Racing confirmed their replacements for Blanchard-bound James Golding and the departing Richie Stanaway, with Jayden Ojeda set to combine his Mercedes GT3 duties with a full-time Supercars debut, and Declan Fraser returning to the grid.
The Peter Xiberras-owned outfit also welcomed former Triple Eight patriarch Roland Dane, who will return to the Supercars paddock as Team Principal of PremiAir in 2026.
Vale Garry Rogers
Sad news came on the eve of the Gold Coast 500, with the passing of Supercars Hall of Famer and iconic pit-lane personality Garry Rogers, aged 80.
Running his eponymous team in his ebullient image from 1996 until their Supercars exit at the end of 2019, Rogers was known for promoting young talent and bringing a unique flair to the sport.
The likes of Garth Tander, who won his first Bathurst in 2000 partnered with Jason Bargwanna for GRM, as well as Lee Holdsworth, Jamie Whincup and Scott McLaughlin, all began their Supercars careers under Rogers.
Famously, Rogers discarded the future seven-time champion Whincup at the end of 2003 before the GOAT of Supercars rebounded with Triple Eight in 2006.
Whincup, now Team Principal of Triple Eight, paid tribute to his former boss by bringing Rogers’ trademark flair to Surfers Paradise, donning a pair of pink shorts in his honour on Saturday.
Jawad Yaqubhttps://https://ift.tt/vpOMA2N Elimination Final Round Up: Mostert does the double, bruising round for some, Vale to a pit-lane icon
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