The Repco Supercars Championship debut at Taupō Motorsport Park in Taupō, New Zealand, for Race 7 of the season on Saturday in a rain storm. Monster Castrol Racing driver Cam Waters won the first pole on the track edging Red Bull Ampol Racing Will Brown in the Top Ten Shootout by 0.5011 seconds.
The race got off to a chaotic start when Cam Waters and Tim Slade collided, while Thomas Randle spun Matt Payne triggering a safety car. Randle was hit with a 15-second penalty. Later, Brodie Kostecki spun Bryce Fullward at Turn 11 causing another safety car.
The chaos also took place at pit road on the ninth lap when Kostecki hit Matt Payne causing both Payne and David Reynolds to wait to pit. Andre Heimgartner won the battle on pit road with Will Brown behind him for the restart.
With 20 laps to go, Andre Heimgartner, Chaz Mostert, and Will Davison made their final scheduled pit stops. However, two laps later, Chaz Mostert had a right rear coming loose ending any chances of him winning the race. The wheel did come loose at Turn 4 rolling through the grass before hitting Mostert’s car. The replay showed the nut was not secured.
As the laps winded down, Shell V-Power Racing drivers Will Davison and Anton De Pasquale cut Heimgartner’s lead. When Heimgartner won the race, the margin of victory was 1.1012 seconds over Davison for his first win since 2021 and the first win for Brad Jones Racing since 2020.
The rest of the top ten finishers were Anton De Pasquale third, Ryan Wood fourth, Jack Le Brocq fifth, Richie Stanaway sixth, James Golding seventh, Cam Waters eighth, Will Brown ninth, and Jaxon Evans tenth.
The Repco Supercars Championship concludes the weekend with Race 8 on Sunday starts at 5 pm on YouTube.
