Supercars star Cam Waters has blown up as his third place standing in the championship race slipped with his disappointing 21st finish in Saturday’s first race in Taupo.
Waters was caught up in awkward pit lane stop with rival Matt Payne, and could be heard complaining on his team radio.
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“Where’s the f****ng penalty for Payne? What the f**k was he thinking?” he said.
“Yep, copy, copy, we’re on it,” his team replied.
And the Tickford star’s day didn’t improve as he was taken out from contact with Jayden Odeja with just three laps to run in a battle with Anton de Pasquale.
The contact ensured Waters missed the top 10 for the first time this season.
Brodie Kostecki claimed Saturday’s first race win,Source: Getty Images
Waters sought out Heimgartner post-race, later telling Fox Motorsport: “When you qualify bad, you race with the people who aren’t at the top level.
“Disappointing to get damage when there was three to go with a pretty stupid move.
“I was just a bit disappointed with not leaving enough room really. I’m all for hard racing and leaning on each other, but he did it at the end of the first stint, and then he just drove into my left rear at Turn 5 and it broke my damper.
“Just kinda stupid.
“The pass is already done – I don’t really know why he did it. It is what it is. Probably a question for him.
“We’ll move on, and make the car a bit faster, and hopefully we don’t have to race the B-grade drivers.”
Commentator James Courtney described Waters’ criticism as “fighting words” as tempers flared.
In his own take on the contact, Heimgartner shrugged off the run-in and post-race confrontation.
“I don’t have any problem with it, we were just debriefing and he came in a bit upset which I understand. He got taken out, but it wasn’t from me,” he told Fox Motorsport.
Chaz Mostert and Ryan Wood claimed podiums in Saturday’s second race.Source: Getty Images
“He was just saying something about something, I don’t know, but a bit rich coming from him.
“That’s not our problem at the moment, I thought it was some good racing. Everyone races hard, and there was some contact, but with these wheels and different things it’s easy to snap dampers.
“Our problem is our car speed, so that’s what we’ve got to focus on, and just ignore all the other stuff.”
Brodie Kostecki went on to take the race win ahead of Will Brown who had to fight tooth and nail to hold off Ryan Wood.
“I thought, ‘Nah he’s not going to get past, I’m going to make it as hard as I can for him,‘“ Brown said post-race.
“I knew that if he got to my inside I was done, I had no rear left.
“I was making sure he went to my outside and making sure he couldn’t go around the outside in a very nice way. I think I was polite about it wasn’t I?”
Wood would later break through for an emotional win in New Zealand in the second race on Saturday – but not without its own drama.
The Kiwi pole sitter was leading the race when he was inadvertently undercut by his teammate Chaz Mostert after second stop.
Wood was left fuming over team radio as Mostert emerged in a surprise lead, saying: “Are you serious?”
In response, engineer Richard Harris replied: “We’re not happy about it either.”
“Clearly Ryan Wood very upset coming out behind his teammate,” Garth Tander said on the broadcast.
WTWGR CEO Bruce Stewart explained the team confusion on Fox Motorsport, stating it was “probably not ideal”.
“I don’t think we expected it (Wood to come out behind Mostert) … I think everyone had a bit of a holy hell moment,” he said.
But Mostert would later move aside with Wood’s pace, heard saying he would “protect the win” for his teammate with just eight laps to go.
Wood became the first-ever Toyota winner, and now provisionally leads the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy standings heading into the four-race event at Christchurch next weekend.
“I’m so incredibly proud of our team and what we’ve done with this beautiful car,” he said.
“To win in our third round is pretty special.
“This is incredible. I can’t believe it.
“My dad was probably bawling his eyes out – my mum’s a little bit tougher (smiles).”
Addressing the team conflict post race, Wood admitted he felt “like a bit of an idiot now”.
“I felt like we’d worked so hard to keep track position … and when you see your teammate you’re like ohhhh!” he said.
“Sorry to my crew and everyone in my team for listening to my whingeing.”
Broc Feeney managed to sail home in second ahead of Mostert in third as the series now heads to Christchurch, due to wild weather cancelling Sunday’s racing.