Luck all bad as frustrated Mostert rues wasted day
SUPERCARS’ ‘most wanted’ man Chaz Mostert has lamented lost track time after struggling to get a grip on the opening day of the Townsville 400.
Mostert completed only 15 laps over the two practice sessions in his Supercheap Auto Mustang as he dealt with engine troubles and a wet first session.
He sat out most of the opening session due to the conditions, before a reported electrical issue in the second session had him well behind the pack.
Tickford Racing changed the car’s coil packs and ECU in an effort to catch up, which Mostert reported eventually fixed the problem.
“It was a waste of a day for us,” said Mostert.
“We had some issues with the car, which really hampered our running.
“We couldn’t do the test plan that we wanted to. In the end we changed a bunch of things and something fixed it.
“The car was running OK at the end there, but lost track time really hurts us this weekend.”
Mostert ended up 14th fastest in the second session with a fastest lap time of one minute 13.2353 seconds, well behind Tickford Racing teammate Lee Holdsworth who finished on top.
It was a positive day for the Tickford team claiming the practice double after Cameron Waters had shown the benefits of running slicks in an otherwise dour first session.
But Mostert is convinced that there is still plenty of work to be done in the four-car garage.
“The last couple of rounds have proven we’re there or thereabouts, but we’re still missing a fair bit to next door,” he said, referring to the Shell V-power Racing team.
“Today was a lot of focus around trying to bridge that gap but unfortunately we couldn’t do the stuff we wanted to do.”
Mostert is off contract at the end of the 2019 season and has quickly become one of the highest sought-after drivers.