Victory for Mostert and Owen on the wet streets of Surfers Paradise
Chaz Mostert and Steve Owen are the winners of the first race in the Gold Coast 600 event at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit. In the 12th round of the 2017 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship and the final round of the Pirtek Enduro Cup, Mostert scored his 11th Supercars victory in a career and the third win on the season. For Owen, who is endurance co-driver in the #55 Ford Falcon, it’s the third Supercars win in a career.
The first race of Gold Coast 600 took place on a very wet track between the concrete walls of Surfers Paradise. Such a conditions guaranteed lots of drama. The #55 Ford Falcon survived an early incident, recording a victory ahead of another Ford of Prodrive #6 crew Cameron Waters/Richie Stanaway. Freightliner Racing’s Tim Slade and Andre Heimgartner completed the podium in the #14 Holden.
Mostert and Owen took the Pirtek Enduro Cup lead ahead of tomorrow’s second race. In the championship standings, the leader is still Fabian Coulthard, who finished 19th today after a late penalty. Jamie Whincup, who finished sixth today, is second in the championship, 37 points behind Coulthard. Scott McLaughlin was 12th in Race 1, and he’s now 76 points behind teammate. The fourth-placed Mostert is 121 points behind.
Andre Heimgartner was the early star of the race, starting from third and taking the lead from Steve Owen and Paul Dumbrell in the #88 Red Bull Holden. On lap 29, Dumbrell and Owen collided in Turn 1, giving the second place to Richie Stanaway in the #14 Ford. Dumbrell was handed a 15-second penalty.
When the primary drivers took over the cars, Mostert was in the sixth place. He immediately passed Craig Lowndes, Jamie Whincup and Michael Caruso, starting to chase leading Cameron Waters and Tim Slade. Slade’s crew made a slow pit stop, handing the lead to Waters. On the restart after Safety Car period, Mostert jumped into the lead and stayed in front until the end. The race was cut-off from predicted 101 to 94 laps.
Check the full results of the Gold Coast 600
Photos: supercars.com,