It was a solid start to the year across the Walkinshaw Andretti United garage, with Chaz Mostert on the podium, and Nick Percat in 6th in Race 1 of the 2022 Championship.
After a good day on Friday, qualifying was a little down on expectations on both cars.
Chaz made the shootout, but struggled for balance, eventually qualifying eighth, while Nick’s best lap in quali was deleted courtesy of a kerb strike, meaning he would start 14th.
Torrential rain was always a threat throughout the 77 lap, 300km race to start the year, which meant a variety of strategies. Some ran the super softs early, some three stopped, some two stopped, which meant the race was a little tricky to read at times.
We held our nerve, saving the super soft until our final stint, and only stopping twice.
That meant, both drivers had a good tyre under them late, allowing them to move forward and pick cars off one by one.
It was a great recovery by both cars, spring boarding us into Sunday.
Tomorrow we have qualifying, a top 10 shootout and another 300km race to cap off the weekend.
Chaz Mostert
“Awesome to get on the podium for our first race of the year, it’s a great start.
“I like the longer races, and we had some great battles along the way, a big thanks to the team for the strategy and a good race car.
“We’ve got some work to do on the quali car which would make life a little easier, but overall, solid start to the year, and a nice haul of points for the team with Nick doing a great job as well.
“Thanks to our partners for the support this off-season, nice to be back racing!”
Nick Percat
“Great recovery today, solid start to the year with sixth, so I’ll take that with our first outing together again.
“Was a nice bank of points for the team, and well done to Chaz and the 25 guys on the podium.
“Weather looks interesting tomorrow, but I think we learnt a lot today, with the car and with each other so looking forward to Sunday now.
“It’s great to be back, and thanks to everyone for their support.”