Mercury (Hobart)

PAIR COMBINES TO KEEP RACE ALIVE

- JAMES PHELPS

THE V8 title fight is on after Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters combined to deliver Holden hero Shane van Gisbergen a double blow in Darwin.

Keeping the championsh­ip alive by outmusclin­g van Gisbergen during a fender bending Sunday at the Darwin Triple crown, Mostert

and Waters powered their way into championsh­ip contention by each winning a race.

With Ford star Waters striking first to win the earlier race, Mostert held on to beat Anton De Pasquale in a final race thriller that ended up breathing life into the championsh­ip after van Gisbergen had a shocker.

In a drive Mark Skaife declared

as his greatest, Walkinshaw pilot Mostert survived on old tyres to hold out De Pasquale.

“Everyone had fresher tyres than me,” Mostert said.

“But it was a super effort by the team. I came out super aggressive and I just held on.”

De Pasquale was able to narrow the gap to Shane van Gisbergen to 213 by finishing second after the Red Bull

driver had a horror final race.

On track for another podium after fighting his way through the field, van Gisbergen came together with Will Davison in an incident that ruined his race.

The reigning champion finished 21st place after also copping a 15-second penalty for the contact.

Despite once again making a mistake in a pressure moment when fighting for the lead, De Pasquale emerged as a serious contender by backing up his race one win with a podium.

“I just couldn’t get past him,” de Pasquale said.

Waters also became a contender when he won the first race of the day.

Waters continued the Ford fightback by landing another blow on van Gisbergen.

 ?? ?? The Supercars field rounds a bend at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway on Sunday. Picture: Getty Images
The Supercars field rounds a bend at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway on Sunday. Picture: Getty Images

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