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Cameron Waters claims victory on the streets of Townsville

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Cameron Waters won the first Supercars Championship race of the weekend on the streets of Townsville, beating pole sitter Anton De Pasquale by close to three seconds.

The Tickford Racing driver started second and was able to get past the Dick Johnson Racing driver after the pit stop on lap 18, making full use of De Pasquale coming out of the pits on cold tyres.

Chaz Mostert climbed from fifth on the grid to finish third behind the wheel of his Ford Mustang.

Blanchard Racing Team driver Tim Slade made impressive progress up through the field from 19th on the grid to finish fourth, 15 seconds behind race winner Waters.

Disaster struck Triple Eight Race Engineering drivers Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen, with both being handed 15-second penalties.

Whincup, who crossed the line in second place, was dropped to finish fifth after speeding in the pit lane, with van Gisbergen sixth after receiving a penalty for making contact with Brodie Kostecki.

Holden driver Scott Pye and Ford driver James Courtney rounded off the top eight.

Next up is qualifying for the second and third races of the weekend, starting at 10:25 local time/02:25 CEST tomorrow.