Cam Waters at Sandown in 2025. Image: InSyde Media
Waters returns to the scene of his 2025 finals elimination sitting in sixth in the standings, 21 points below the top four cut-off.
It’s been an inconsistent season for Tickford and Waters, which reached a high of five podiums from six races – including two wins – across Darwin and Townsville.
However, Tickford is now on a run of 10 races without a podium and seven without a top-five finish, marking its longest top-five drought since 2007.
Waters banked a pair of top 10 finishes last time out on the Gold Coast that ensured he’d progress to Sandown, but more is required to reach Adelaide.
“We still haven’t found the speed we’ve been missing… we need to keep improving,” said team boss Rod Nash after the Gold Coast.
“We know our cars have been quick at Sandown in the past, but we’ve still got to find the little gain that’s been penalising us through the whole season.”
Waters’ 2025 elimination occurred following incidents with Will Brown and Matt Payne during a Sunday race in which he’d vowed to “come out swinging”.
The damage had already been done in the super soft tyre race on Saturday, where Waters dropped from fourth to sixth in the standings courtesy of a 12th place finish.
The super soft, which will be used for the Saturday action at Sandown, has again proven an Achilles heel for Tickford this year.
Photo: Richard Gresham
Regardless, the 32-year-old has vowed to be on the attack at this weekend’s event, run in his adopted home town of Melbourne.
“Gold Coast was a tough weekend with all the weather but happy to make it through,” he said. “Keen to bring the fight this week and get into the final four.”
With a heavy focus on teammate tactics in the finals, Waters’ quest to stay alive in the title fight may rest on Thomas Randle.
Randle was among those said to be impacted by differing wet tyre quality during the Saturday race on the Gold Coast, but rebounded with a top 10 on the Sunday.
“Gold Coast was tricky in parts, the wet weather was something we just could not get on top of for most of the weekend,” Randle said.
“It was great to have a Top 10 shootout appearance as well as some serious car pace on Sunday, I also had a lot of fun getting some good overtakes in there and ending up in the top 10.
“We know there is still plenty to play for in the team and I’m excited to build on the momentum that we had leaving the GC.”
Randle is 13th in the drivers’ standings while Tickford Racing is third in the teams’, which is not impacted by the finals system.