CAM Waters has continued to shine in Supercars’ northern swing, winning the NTI Townsville 500 opener.
Waters, who similarly won the Friday sprint at last month’s Darwin Triple Crown, out-dragged polesitter Brodie Kostecki off the start line and didn’t look back from there.
Kostecki, in his yellow #17 Mustang, conversely got swamped before quickly rebounding to pick off Chaz Mostert and Matt Payne to regain second and set off after Waters.
Hustling hard, Kostecki had a couple of hairy moments before committing to being the chaser, waiting out Waters and others for his pit visit for a change of tyres.
Kostecki emerged from his Lap 24 stop smack bang between Kai Allen (third) and Mostert (fifth) but spent less than a full tour of Reid Park behind the Penrite #26.
With 10 laps to go, Kostecki was 5.8 seconds off the lead and with Payne in between, but the 2023 champion managed to get within two tenths of victory at the chequered flag.
“Probably (just needed) another corner or two, to be honest,” Kostecki reacted.
“Thought about having a big dive down at the last corner, but Cam’s a pretty smart racer.
“He sort of placed his car in a spot where I’d have to crash into him, but yeah, excited for tomorrow.”
For Waters, it’s his fourth Townsville race win, putting him equal third with Scott McLaughlin on the event’s all-time leaderboard, behind only Jamie Whincup (12) and Shane van Gisbergen (10).
Third for Payne meanwhile was enough to propel the Kiwi into the championship lead, on a day where Broc Feeney placed 10th.
RESULTS: Race 20, 2026 Townsville 500