HIGH degradation was to blame for a disastrous end to the Melbourne SuperSprint for Walkinshaw Andretti United as Chaz Mostert lost the championship lead.
Mostert started on the front row and led for more than half of the race, passing hard tyre starter Broc Feeney on the first racing lap.
Feeney’s strategy proved the superior option, getting rid of his hards at the end of Lap 2 and enjoying clear air on his fresh super softs.
Mostert though seemed in the hunt – until his pace vanished.
The two-time Bathurst 1000 winner was passed for the lead by Bryce Fullwood at the start of Lap 8 and proceeded to plummet down the order.
He would drop right to the back of those yet to stop before being forced to part with his worn super softs on Lap 11 of 13, returning to finish 14th.
Kostecki on the other hand charged from 14th to third to win the Larry Perkins Trophy and demote Mostert to second in the championship, with 32 points now separating the pair.
Mostert admitted he just didn’t have good enough tyre life on Sunday.
“Bit of a disappointing finish in the end there, we were running strongly in the lead until late in the race, and we just didn’t have the tyre life to hang on to the position,” he said.
“Thank you to everyone for their hard work, we will regroup and go again in Perth.”
Mostert wasn’t alone, with teammate Nick Percat similarly suffering.
“Pretty tough end to a chaotic weekend that threw a lot at us,” he said.
“We just couldn’t hang onto the tyre in the end there.
“A big weekend, glad we have a couple weeks until the next round where we can head back to HQ to work on the car after Friday’s fire. Let’s bounce back on the west coast.”
A weekend that began well for Percat, with a top 10 qualifying performance on Thursday, turned into a continuation of his nightmare start to 2023 with that Friday fire turning his event upside down.
He remains anchored to the bottom of the standings, having also suffered a mechanical failure at the Newcastle 500.
