Cam Waters ends winless run in Darwin opener
Cam Waters emerged victorious in the opening Supercars race of the weekend at Hidden Valley as the Darwin Triple Crown kicked off with a single Friday race.
Waters ended a winless run dating back to early 2025 to head a 1-2-3 for Ford in a race that became a one-lap shootout following a late safety car period, with the Tickford Racing man seeing off the challenge of Kai Allen and Matt Payne to grab victory.
Qualifying earlier in the day had seen Brodie Kostecki bag pole position, and he held the lead at the start despite pressure from Anton De Pasquale.
De Pasquale made a move for the lead at turn one but only opened the door to a fast-starting Waters to nip through into second, having cleared Payne off the line.
The Tickford driver then set about trying to find a way ahead of Kostecki, but the DJR man held firm before diving in for his stop – with Waters going long.
Although Kostecki regained the lead when Waters did stop, it didn’t take long for the positions to change once again with Kostecki then overhauled by both Allen and Payne after they too ran a long first stint to have fresher tyres for the run to the flag.
A late caution when David Reynolds was tipped into a spin threatened Waters’ bid for victory but despite pressure from Allen throughout the one lap of racing that remained, Waters held on to secure his first victory of the campaign.
Off the podium, Kostecki had to settle for fourth place ahead of Will Brown, with De Pasquale in sixth being the best placed of the Chevrolet drivers for Triple Eight.
The Toyotas of Chaz Mostert and Ryan Wood then completed the top eight.
Points leader Broc Feeney started back in 13th place and could only finish one place lower in 14th having run off track shortly after his pit stop.
