The Repco Supercars Championship concluded the NTI Townsville 500 weekend with Race 22 on Sunday at Reid Park Street Circuit in Townsville, Queensland. Cameron Waters started the race on the pole, with Brodie Kostecki starting second. The race was set to 68 laps.
Waters cleared Kostecki at the start of the race. However, Ryan Wood passed Kostecki for second, and braked late to pass Waters for the lead at the exit of Turn 2. Waters fought Wood to get the lead back at Turn 3. Behind them, there was a pile-up as Aaron Cameron was tagged in to a spin in the middle of the pack, while Andre Heimgartner spun off to the outside after getting hit by Cooper Murray. Anton De Pasquale and Macauley Jones were also involved, with Jones’s car getting hit by Reuben Goodall.
The safety car came out after the incident before the first lap was completed. Cameron, Jones, and Heimgartner were done for the day. Cameron Waters got a good jump on the restart. Meanwhile, Ryan Wood lost second place to Brodie Kostecki. Kostecki was the first to pit road on lap 16, with Matthew Payne behind him. Cameron Waters pitted on lap 25, along with Ryan Wood. Once both drivers left pit road, Kostecki was the new leader, with Payne second.
Kai Allen was the last to pit on lap 30. Kostecki had a six-second lead over Payne. On lap 37, Cameron Waters passed Payne for second place at Turn 2. Matthew Payne was the first among the leaders to make their second stop on lap 42. Kostecki went to pit road on lap 48, and Cameron Waters went on lap 50. However, Waters had a slow tire change, and the car did not completely refuel onboard. Once all the pit stops were complete, Kostecki had a four-second lead over Matthew Payne.
Late in the race, Cameron Waters passed Chaz Mostert for third place with eight laps to go. Upfront, Kostecki’s lead grew, eventually winning the race by 9.349 seconds over Matthew Payne. It was his sixth win of the season.
Cameron Waters, Chaz Mostert, and Ryan Wood rounded out the top five. Broc Feeney, Kai Allen, Will Brown, Jack Le Brocq, and Jayden Ojeda completed the top ten. Click here to view the full results.
The Repco Supercars Championship will be off for a few weeks before heading to Wanneroo Raceway for the Bosch Power Tools Perth Super 440 from Perth, Western Australia, from July 31st through August 2nd.
