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Supercars Symmons Plains: Toyota pair Chaz Mostert and Andre Heimgartner share wins
Toyota has enjoyed a historic Supercars day at Symmons Plains with two wins, with Walkinshaw TWG's Chaz Mostert and Brad Jones Racing's Andre Heimgartner each taking their first victories in a GR Supra in the opening two races in Tasmania.
The defending champion and the New Zealander both started from pole position and took convincing victories.
The opening 50-lap race saw Mostert dominate, taking the lead from the Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro of Anton De Pasquale – who at the same time had team-mate David Reynolds barge past, on his way into second.
That is how they finished, with Mostert taking the win by 5.3s ahead of the rejuvenated Reynolds, with the Ford Mustangs of Brodie Kostecki (Dick Johnson Racing) third ahead of Broc Feeney (Triple 8). De Pasquale struggled in the second half of the race and dropped to sixth.
In the second race it was Heimgartner's turn to lead away from pole, with Feeney immediately challenging after a great getaway from the second row. The Supra eased away and after the pit cycle, Heimgartner kept the lead.
A bold two-tyre stop vaulted Matt Payne ahead of Feeney temporarily but it did not take long for the Triple 8 Ford to find a way past, and seize second for good.
That is how it played out, with Heimgartner taking the win by 3.68s to take his first win in two years and first in dry conditions. In doing so, vindicating team owner Brad Jones's decision to swap his Chevrolets for Toyotas during the off-season.
Broc Feeney, Triple Eight Race Engineering
“It’s a big credit to all the guys. A flawless stop got us back out there,” said Heimgartner. “Honestly, it’s been a bit of a hard slog. It’s been years since I won a race. We’re starting to get a handle on the GR Supra and I’m over the moon, couldn’t have executed that race much better.”
Feeney took second place, well clear of Payne, with Triple 8's Will Brown in fourth.
De Pasquale completed a solid day for Team 18, taking fifth in spite of taking to the dirt on the final lap while trying to pass Payne. Sixth was a great return for Grove Racing's Kai Allen, who made up 11 places after making an early pitstop of making his super soft Dunlop tyres retain their grip for 37 laps.
Mostert had a tougher time in the second race than in the first. After qualifying 13th he dropped a couple of spots at the start, then had contact with the PremiAir Racing Chevrolet of Jayden Ojeda. As a result he copped a 15-second penalty, turning a bad race into a complete write-off, and he was classified 20th at the finish.
Racing continues on Sunday, with a single race over 84 laps of the 2.4km circuit.
Supercars Symmons Plains - Race results
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