Downpour helps Waters to inaugural Taupō pole

CAM Waters has capitalised on some good fortune to grab pole position for Race 1 of the ITM Taupō Super400.

In full wet conditions as opposed to the drying track surface present during qualifying, Tim Slade was the first man out, tiptoeing around in his #23 Nulon Camaro to lay down the gauntlet at 1:35.5591s.

Andre Heimgartner followed by putting his local knowledge to use, eclipsing Slade’s time in what continues to be an improved weekend for Brad Jones Racing.

Waters shaved another half-second off the benchmark (now at 1:34.7415s), and that time was good enough to halt the trend of subsequent improvers with Will Brown slotting in behind the Tickford Racing star.

That was by no means a disaster for Brown, whose teammate and key championship rival Broc Feeney had missed the Shootout altogether.

There was more good news to come for the #87 Red Bull Ampol Camaro driver as conditions began to deteriorate.

That meant things were looking up for the early runners, with smiles in the Tickford garage as it became evident Waters was increasingly in the box seat.

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That was reflected by a drop-off in times with Ryan Wood and Cameron Hill well off the pace.

Suddenly, it became a case of damage limitation for the quickest qualifiers, and Will Davison was caught out with an error at Turn 9 that resigned him to 10th on the grid.

Dealt a tough hand after their morning heroics, Chaz Mostert, Anton De Pasquale and Matt Payne faced an uphill battle and did all they could to keep their Mustangs on the road.

Provisional poleman Matt Payne did string together a good lap to pip both DJR entries, at least.

Counting their lucky stars, Waters and Brown will share the front row for this afternoon’s 60-lap race starting 1:05pm AEST (3:05pm local).

Behind them, in order, will be Heimgartner, Slade, Wood, Hill, Mostert, Payne, De Pasquale and Davison.

“Obviously got pretty lucky with it getting wetter through the session, but in saying that the car was pretty hooked up and felt comfortable straight out of the gate,” said Waters.

“We’ve had a lot of bad luck this year so we’ll take a bit of good luck then. The team did a great job.”

RESULTS: Top 10 Shootout for Race 1, 2024 ITM Taupō Super400