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The Supercars championship’s northern expedition continued, with the streets of Townsville playing home to the sixth round of the 2023 series and also marking the halfway point in the season.
Reid Park has been another popular hybrid circuit, offering the technical challenges of a street track – with some fast, flowing permanent sections from the parklands. There was plenty to unpack from the Townsville 500 and here are the talking points.
Will Brown commanded the opening leg of the Townsville 500, winning Race 16 from pole position and taking the lead of the championship from Erebus Motorsport teammate Brodie Kostecki.
It was Cameron Waters who led at the start, with an interesting squabble between Brown, Shane van Gisbergen and David Reynolds on the opening lap. Brown off pole took van Gisbergen wide at Turn 2, opening the door for Waters.
Van Gisbergen ended up making contact with Jack Le Brocq at Turn 8, taking the Red Bull Camaro out of contention early in proceedings, while Kostecki had a gamut of mechanical issues which plagued the former points leader to a 19th-placed finish.
Brown had regained the lead from Waters on Lap 23 at Turns 10 and 11, with their first pit-stops coming on Lap 30. A second stop came for Brown on Lap 59 and after the stops filtered out, he returned to the lead.
There was a late Safety Car with Todd Hazelwood’s Cooldrive Mustang out of the race in between Turns 2 and 3. This compressed the field and put the likes of Chaz Mostert in place with his bold three-stop strategy to challenge for the podium.
The Coca-Cola Camaro of Brown crossed the line with a 3.3-second margin over Broc Feeney, who was up four positions from where he started. Mostert overhauled van Gisbergen and Waters for a much-needed podium.
A sixth-placed finish in Race 17 for Brown, while Kostecki returned to the podium in second still saw the Saturday winner retain the points lead – with a seven-point gap between the Erebus teammates.
On paper, Waters was the first Ford driver to win in the Gen3 era back at the Newcastle 500 following the disqualification of both Red Bull Ampol Racing cars, but it’s taken till Townsville for the first on-track win for the beleaguered Mustang.
Anton De Pasquale bounced back after a dismal Saturday and Race 16 retirement, as well as a lacklustre 2023 so far to claim his first podium and victory of the season at the end of 88 laps on Sunday.
Starting sixth via the top-10 shootout, De Pasquale short-fuelled in his first stop popped out in the lead ahead of polesitter Waters, Feeney and James Courtney in the Snowy Rivers Caravan Mustang.
The presence of the Safety Car after Cameron Hill’s Truck Assist Camaro shed debris from its diffuser, saw De Pasquale lead the second round of stops. By Lap 41 the Shell V-Power Mustang was back into the lead and then cruised home ahead of Kostecki and Andre Heimgartner.
Behind the top three was an entertaining exchange between the two Red Bull drivers, as van Gisbergen in his 500th Supercars race from 20th on the grid and being spun by Declan Fraser on the opening lap, was hounding teammate Feeney for fourth. While the Kiwi got ahead in fourth and was unable to challenge Heimgartner ahead, Feeney was pleading for his teammate to return the position so he’d take the round win off Brown.
This was De Pasquale’s first win since Darwin in 2022 and Dick Johnson Racing’s first since teammate Will Davison winning in Pukekohe late last year. The points from the victory did vault the 27-year-old from a lowly 20th in the standings to 16th.
Following the parity trigger having been pulled after the Darwin Triple Crown, adjustments had been made to the Ford Mustang for the Townsville 500 after it was found there was a “minor difference in rear-wing downforce.”
That what the official statement from Supercars read, identifying that the Mustang had a deficiency at the rear-end going into braking zones. This was something in Darwin that became more evident, particularly in longer runs where Mustang’s rear tyre life was significantly shorter than that of the Camaro.
The changes implemented have been a modification of the rear-wing’s position, span and angle – as well as increased size of the boot spoiler.
Immediately, the impact of the changes was seen through De Pasquale’s win in Race 17 which ended up being the first on-track win for a Mustang in 2023. Waters, meanwhile, had the pole for that race.
Perhaps, the changes have come a little too late in the season for Ford teams such as Tickford and Walkinshaw Andretti United, who’d traditionally have had championship aspirations. It has been noted the re-learning of their machinery required for the Ford drivers, which as emphasised previously for a professional and premier championship series, is subpar.
It’s easy to compare the scenario to 2019’s parity saga where only after two rounds, the trigger was initiated and Supercars acted to adjust the then new Ford Mustang to bring it in line with the ZB Holden Commodore.
Having not been on the podium since the season opening Newcastle 500 and actually having led the championship in the early rounds, it has been a difficult run for Mostert and the Walkinshaw Andretti United operation.
In the first year of the team’s historic switch to Ford, much of their pain has been documented by the disparities between the Mustang and the Chevrolet Camaro. But Race 16 saw the two-time Bathurst 1000 winner claim an unexpected podium.
Utilising a unique three-stop strategy, no thanks to the Mustang – despite the rear-end parity changes – still chewing through its rear tyres in a race stint, had the fresh rubber when the race resumed on Lap 73 following a Safety Car to round up several cars en route to third.
“Today was the probably the best result we could have got, for sure – I didn’t even expect to get a trophy today,” remarked Mostert after the race.
“To be honest, it feels like we don’t really have a rear-wing, so it’s been a bit hectic out there. We’re okay in the slow, mechanical corners, but the really high-commitment brake zones and then obviously the high-speed through the back section, the car just gives way.”
It was an encouraging result for the best placed Mustang driver in the championship, though Race 17 saw an unravelling for the 31-year-old.
Firstly Mostert’s top-10 shootout was compromised after hitting the wall early in his lap and then a power-steering issue on Lap 4 of the race saw him fail to finish for the second time this season.
Van Gisbergen’s much anticipated appearance in the NASCAR Cup Series for the Chicago street circuit race was expected to be great opportunity for the three-time Supercars champion to market himself Stateside and showcase his great abilities.
Little was it thought that he’d qualify the Trackhouse Racing’s Project91 Chevrolet Camaro third on the grid and then claim victory on debut – becoming the first driver in 60 years in the Cup Series to win in their first race.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – JULY 02: Shane Van Gisbergen, driver of the #91 Enhance Health Chevrolet, celebrates with the checkered flag after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 220 at the Chicago Street Course on July 02, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
Racing at a new circuit, in a new car, new team and sitting the opposite side of the cabin to what he’s used to as well. The superlatives could just roll on, to describe the monumental nature of van Gisbergen’s feat. Also the fact he had to scythe through the field in the final phase of the race which saw changeable conditions, as well. Wow.
Naturally the speculation has been rife over the Kiwi’s future in Supercars. Whether he’ll see out 2024 as he’s claimed he will with Triple Eight in Supercars before a 2025 switch Stateside, or embrace the challenge as early as next year remains to be seen.
Red Bull team boss Jamie Whincup made the comment to Fox Sports News that he “won’t stand in their way.”
“Of course, I’m trying to run the business as well as a I possibly can and I need the best drivers, but if any driver, engineer, employee came to me and said, ‘Hey, my dream is to go to the other side of the world and do something else’, I’m not going to stand in their way.”
Having been unchallenged for the championship since his rival and compatriot Scott McLaughlin left for Indycar in 2021, van Gisbergen has faced more competition in 2023 with Erebus coming to the front – but has also been quite vocal in dissatisfaction with the Gen3 cars.
Famously given a dressing down on live television by commentator Mark Skaife in Newcastle for “not being an ambassador of the sport,” van Gisbergen in fact has been trying to ambassador for positive changes and giving key developmental feedback which can only come from a driver. However, if Supercars can’t respect that – SVG’s talents will be appreciated elsewhere.
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