WAU REKINDLE HRT’S GLORY DAYS WITH AN ADELAIDE 1-2 WIN.

You couldn’t have written the script any better. The final race weekend for Gen 2, the final time a Holden races in the Repco Supercars Championship, WAU go retro with a HRT theme and Chaz Mostert is joined by Nick Percat in a 1-2 result for the team.

Actually; if you’d written the script no-one would have believed it anyway.

Runaway Championship leader Shane van Gisbergen qualified last and then hits the wall mid race? Unbelievable!

Local boy Scott Pye qualifies on the front row alongside Cameron Waters and the pair remained in the lead until the van Gisbergen incident triggered a Safety Car? Not likely.

The it all goes wrong. Waters runs wide at Turn 4 then collects Hazelwood at the next corner and spins him into the wall and a luckless Will Brown hits the Truck Assist Commodore.

The WAU Commodores didn’t appear to have the pace to stay with the leaders and relied on some clever team strategies to move ahead for the final sprint to the end? Now that sounds plausible.

And there you have the opening race of the Valo 500.

The Adelaide Parklands circuit rose from the ashes of neglect and a plan by the former South Australian Government to not just abandon the 500, but systematically disband every piece of infrastructure, from pit buildings and grandstands to cross over bridges and concrete walls, every nut and bolt that was ever associated with the circuit.

Then came Peter Malinauskas. The then Labor opposition leader built an election campaign around the rebuilding of the 500km event. His team won the election and immediately set about fulfilling that promise in just under 9 months.

The Premier was on hand to oversee this first race and was well satisfied with the response. Large crowds flocked back to the circuit, hotel occupancy rates rose and the local hospitality industry had thrived as interstate visitors returned.

As so to the race.

A mistake by Shane van Gisbergen saw the Red Bull Ampol Racing driver start from 25th on the grid and miss the Top 10 shootout.

Thomas Randle also missed out on a shootout run after an accident at the high speed Turn 8 caused significant damage to the Tickford Racing Castrol Mustang.  The car did make it to the pitlane during the shootout, but was not allowed to run having missed the cut-off time by around 60 seconds.

Cameron Waters set the fastest time in the shootout, while local boy Scott Pye raised hopes for a home town victory. The Team 18 driver did everything possible at the start and ran with Waters through Turn 1, before moving back into 2nd at the exit of the chicane.

From there the pair maintained a steady pace at the front and through the first round of pitstops that saw van Gisbergen climb up into the Top 10 for the first time.  Waters had a narrow escape when he brushed the outside wall at Turn 11 and continued with damage down the side of the Monster Energy Mustang. That allowed Pye to close onto the back of the Mustang, but a small error by the Team 18 driver saw that gap return.

Turn 11 is renowned for trapping the unsuspecting driver and the number of missing right side mirrors is testament to its unforgiving nature, but 2022 has proven to be even more difficult. It had been suggested that the increased grip from the newly laid track surface around much of the circuit has meant a faster approach speed may have been a factor. What ever the case it soon bit once more.

Jack LeBrocq made side impact with the tyre stack which wedged into the Truck Assist Commodore. After a fruitless waste of good rubber in trying to drive his way out, Le Brocq admitted defeat and waited for the Recovery Crew under Safety Car conditions.

Once cleared the race resumed and almost claimed van Gisbergen after light contact with Mostert had the #1 Red Bull Ampol Commodore nose into the wall at Turn 6. Van Gisbergen was able to reverse out of danger but dropped back to the edge of the Top 20 and had to climb back through the field for a second time.

Chris Pither ran out of sequence and had the Coca Cola Commodore in first for a short while. Waters went past and Pither then slowed with suspension damage having nudged the wall at the back of the circuit.

On Lap 48 the complexion of the race changed once more. Shane van Gisbergen slid front first into the Turn 11 tyres and, like Le Brocq, lit up the corner in a thick pall of tyre smoke. He squirmed the Red Bull Ampol Racing Commodore in every conceivable direction and drew huge cheers when he managed to do so, though the call for a Safety Car had already been made.

Team strategies and fuel loads varied once more as cars returned to the pits for another round of service. Mostert emerged as the leader at the restart, while Waters found himself behind Jones and Hazelwood. An unsuccessful passing attempt to pass Jones at Turn 4 led to the incident with Hazelwood and Brown and the next corner and another Safety Car intervention.

Bryce Fullwood looked to dive by Pye on Lap 58, but made contact with the front wheel of the Team 18 Commodore in the process. That led to a power steering failure for Pye and zero reward for what had been an excellent day until the point.

That left Mostert, Percat and Courtney in the Top 3 positions, which the trio maintained to the chequered flag.

SEE OUR ADL500 PHOTO GALLERY HERE

It was Mostert’s first Supercars victory at the Adelaide Parklands circuit and the first win the WAU outfit since 2016, which was ironically won by Courtney.

Bodie Kostecki, Slade, Winterbottom, Davison, Feeney, Heimgartner and Holdsworth rounded out the Top 10. Heimgartner had been in the mix for a podium finish before cramping issues caused him to drop back.

“It was pretty edgy out there, had to get my elbows out with a few people,” Mostert said. “It was a tough race… these 250km races, they never pan out what you think.

“So good to get a one-two for the team, so good for Nick for the year he’s had.”

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