Andre Heimgartner overcomes penalty to score maiden Supercars win
Kelly Grove Racing is back on the top step of the Supercars Championship podium once again as Kiwi Andre Heimgartner took the team’s first win since 2018 at The Bend Motorsport Park, scoring his first ever Supercars victory in the process.
Coming off the back of taking pole in a wet qualifying session and a podium at the circuit in 2020, it was a strong drive for the Auckland-born pilot who overcame a five second penalty after a pit lane infringement to take a maiden main game victory.
Mostert was the quickest off the line, the Walkinshaw Andretti United driver beating pole-sitter Heimgartner to Turn 1 as Shane van Gisbergen gained three spots to get up to fifth behind the two Dick Johnson Racing cars of Anton de Pasquale and Will Davison. As Mostert led through the Turn 4 kink, he ran wide which allowed de Pasquale through to the lead though he went too deep into Turn 5, relinquishing first place to Heimgartner who finally got back to first.
Within only a handful of laps Heimgartner was able to stretch out his lead to over four seconds from Mostert who was having a hard time keeping van Gisbergen and the Erebus Motorsport car of Will Brown behind him, acting as the cork in the bottle though the pressure was soon turned up on the Triple Eight car as Brown got under the rear wing of the #97, shadowing him for a few laps.
After a majority of the field started on wet tyres, stops for the slick option started on lap six with the leading pack coming into the lane on the next tour. van Gisbergen was hampered by a drama in the pit stop when the hose for the car’s jacks wouldn’t reach the jacking point, costing the championship leader vital seconds and spots before he got back on track.
Cam Waters was lucky to escape without causing damage as the Tickford Racing driver locked up into Turn 1, nearly wiping the back of Jamie Whincup’s Triple Eight machine en route to the gravel trap, luckily being able to rejoin the circuit after only losing a single spot to de Pasquale.
Heimgartner emerged in sixth after his stop but had a five second penalty hanging over his head, the Kelly Grove Racing crew releasing the #7 car into the path of Whincup in the pit lane and causing the pair to make contact which earned him the penalty.
Out front it was the Brad Jones Racing car of Nick Percat that found himself in the lead with team-mate Todd Hazelwood behind him, the pair having started on slick tyres and run long but eventually having to pit later in the race, Hazelwood dropping to 12th as Percat stayed out until lap 20, coming back on track in third ahead of de Pasquale and Waters but on cold tyres.
With no rear grip, de Pasquale took third as Waters had to fight Percat for fourth, trying to strike against the BJR car but to no avail until the final lap when he got past Percat, demoting the #8 to fifth despite starting from last.
Heimgartner cruised to victory by nearly nine seconds on the road as Mostert came home a comfortable second ahead of de Pasquale, Waters and Percat in the top five. Whincup and van Gisbergen beat Davison to sixth and seventh as the Erebus of Brodie Kostecki and Tickford’s Jack Le Brocq completed the top ten.
Next up is qualifying for Race 10, starting at 09:10 local time/01:40 CEST.
