Chaz Mostert controls Gold Coast opener

Defending champion Chaz Mostert made the best possible start to the Finals Series with victory in the opening race of the weekend on the Gold Coast.

Victory for the Walkinshaw TWG racer means he is the first driver to qualify for the Supercars semi final at Sandown as he bids to go back-to-back, with a dominant victory also seeing him move up into fourth in the standings.

Qualifying earlier in the day had seen Broc Feeney put his Ford on pole position ahead of Mostert’s Toyota but conditions had totally changed by the time the race itself came around – with rain that had been threatening falling heavily and requiring a safety car start.

After three laps behind the safety car, Feeney led the field away but Mostert wasted little time in jumping into the lead and was in a class of his own from that point on.

During the opening stint, Mostert simply drove away from the back behind to establish a lead of nearly 20 seconds before coming in to pit for the first time.

Given his advantage at the front, Mostert was able to take on plenty of fuel and after the second stops, was nearly 30 seconds clear of his nearest rival.

Although there was a late scare when an off for James Golding almost brought out a safety car, Mostert was in complete control and was able to ease off in the final stages before taking the flag with a margin of more than 23 seconds.

Matt Payne had looked set to take second spot behind Mostert until he copped a five second penalty for excessive kerb usage that dropped him back to third, and instead meant it was David Reynolds who emerged as runner-up.

Reynolds had started outside the top ten but Grove Racing elected to bring him in early for his first stop, which then left the Chevrolet in clean air – with a series of searing laps meaning he vaulted up the order as others then pitted.

Anton De Pasquale grabbed fourth from Andre Heimgartner, with the top six being completed by Will Brown, with Brodie Kostecki, Cam Waters, Feeney and Jayden Odeja rounding out the top ten.

Feeney’s race unravelled in the early stages when he found himself struggling for pace and was powerless to prevent himself from sliding down the order, leaving him mired in the midfield for the remainder of the action.

Whilst Mostert’s win means he joins Payne in qualifying for the next stage of the Finals already, Kai Allen, Ryan Wood and Jack Le Broq have work to do on Sunday in order to stay in the mix after a difficult opening race of the weekend.

Allen finished last having been forced into an unscheduled stop for a battery change, with Wood struggling when the conditions were at their worst and eventually trailing in back in 14th.

Le Broq meanwhile could only finish 22nd having been involved in contact.