Photos: Edge Photographics Holden’s farewell to the Repco Supercars Championship saw a dream start with Chaz Mostert and Nick Percat securing a one-two finish in the opening race of the VALO Adelaide 500.
With the popular South Australian event making its grand return to the championship, it was a fairy-tale finish for the two Walkinshaw Andretti United (WAU) drivers, who finished ahead of Tickford Racing’s James Courtney.
Donning the classic HRT livery, both Mostert and Percat produced a stunning performance under the shining sun in Adelaide, with the winner having climbed six places to win the 78-lap affair.
His South Australian born-teammate had an even better run up the field during the race, with Percat making up a race-high 18 positions after a disastrous qualifying saw him start in P20.
There were plenty of other elements to make the result even more memorable, which included Mostert setting a new lap record in what was his first ever win at the circuit and Percat claiming his first podium for his new team.
In what will be WAU’s last round for Holden before switching to Ford next year, Mostert was thrilled to claim victory in the dramatic affair.
“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.”
Mostert’s victory saw him close the gap on Cameron Waters in the battle for second place as Waters had a race to forget.
Having started on pole, Waters ended up finishing 13th place after hitting the barriers upon his re-entry from the pits midway through the race, before receiving a drive through penalty for his involvement in an incident for Todd Hazelwood and Will Brown.
The penalty all but ended the Victorian’s hopes of grabbing a win after what had been an almost faultless run up to that point.
Waters wasn’t the high-profile driver to have a difficult day with champion elect Shane van Gisbergen finishing 20th overall.
A mistake in qualifying saw the Kiwi start from 25th and although he looked to continue an upwards trend of 2022 in charging his way up the field, a minor off was followed by another, heavier meeting with the wall on lap 44 effectively ending his day.
van Gisbergen failed to finish but was still classified having completed enough laps prior to parking up in the garage early, ending the day in 20th.
Click here to view full results.
The VALO Adelaide 500 resumes tomorrow with qualifying to take place at 11:00am local time before the final race of the year runs at 2:45pm ACDT.
Keyword: Mostert leads Holden one-two in Adelaide race one