Kai Allen won Race 2 of the Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway. Image: InSyde Media
Allen, who started fifth, undercut his way into the top three before overcoming his Grove Racing teammate Matt Payne on Lap 37.
He then set about hunting down Waters for the lead and on Lap 41 of 70 made the decisive move when the #6 Tickford Mustang got loose entering Turn 7 and opened the door..
The #26 Grove Mustang took top spot and skipped away to a comfortable lead before the final round of pit stops.
Allen maintained his advantage while Waters was left to fend off Kostecki for second.
“Me and this place just gel, I think it just suits the style,” he said.
“Thanks to Riccardo, he made that thing a jet. I knew I had something early in the race.
“I was sort of falling away a bit in that first stint but once I got out on those fresh tyres and got past Cam I knew we were on for a good race.”
Lights out in Darwin and Matt Payne jumps the gun!
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From pole position, Waters maintained his lead out of Turn 1 over Kostecki. Third place starter Matt Payne was given a five-second penalty for jumping the start.
Dick Johnson Racing’s Rylan Gray lost out in the first turn melee, running off the road and dropping to last after a clash with Blanchard Racing Team driver Aaron Cameron.
Supercars points leader Broc Feeney looked like he had Allen taken care of at the start until they made side-to-side contact exiting Turn 1, which got the #88 Triple Eight Mustang loose.
Waters led Kostecki at the end of Lap 1 ahead of Payne, Chaz Mostert, Kai Allen, Broc Feeney, Thomas Randle, Jack Le Brocq, Will Brown, and James Golding.
At the start of Lap 2, Payne lunged Kostecki for second.
What are the chances! Chaz Mostert hits the fluid spill from his teammates car!!
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On Lap 5, Walkinshaw TWG driver Ryan Wood suffered a power steering failure and spilled fluid on the track.
One lap later, Mostert slipped on his Toyota teammate’s oil slick and dumped him from fourth to 15th.
Wood returned to the pits to retire the #2 Walkinshaw Supra while Mostert roasted his team for not warning him of the oil down.
“It’s pretty frustrating,” said Wood.
“Battling for 13th felt like the world championship with old Decca [Declan Fraser].”
Payne pitted out of second on Lap 19 for tyres and to take his five-second penalty and returned just ahead of Matt Stone Racing’s Jack Le Brocq who pitted a few laps earlier.
Matt Stone Racing’s Zach Bates came a cropper on Lap 23 trying to pass Blanchard Racing Team driver James Golding at Turn 5.
Bates explored the grass before returning to the road in the path of Declan Fraser. Trying to go to Bates’ outside, Fraser dipped his right side tyres onto the grass and spun on his own at Turn 6. For the incident, Bates was given a 10-second penalty.
Waters pitted out of the lead on Lap 25. Despite his five-second penalty, Payne made up lost time and was rattling the rear bumper of Waters who defended hard entering Turn 1 just moments after he left the pits.
Waters was stung with a bad sportsmanship flag for moving under braking entering Turn 1. Ironically, Payne got given the same warning later in the race for his defence on Kostecki.
Through the pit stop sequence, Allen undercut Kostecki to sit third. Le Brocq got himself to fifth while Feeney and Brown were sixth and seventh respectively.
Mostert’s recovery drive continued in the second stanza. On Lap 28, he dummied Golding into a mistake as he went off the road at Turn 1, losing out to Jayden Ojeda and Rylan Gray.
Despite having older tyres, Payne began piling pressure on Waters. That was short-lived, however. On Lap 37, Payne and Allen swapped positions in an orchestrated move.
On the same lap, Kostecki got into the back of Payne’s bumper. Their battle allowed Waters and Allen to skip away to the tune of five seconds by Lap 40.
On Lap 41, Allen made his move for the lead on Waters, who made a mistake at Turn 7 and ran wide.
A critical mistake from Waters gifts Allen the race lead in Darwin!
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Just moments later, Kostecki completed a pass out of the final corner on Payne for third with a forceful move from a long way back.
Payne pitted on Lap 44 but was mired in traffic initially. Kostecki pitted on Lap 46 to cover Payne and came out a few car lengths ahead.
Waters made his second pit stop on Lap 47, which prompted Allen to respond a lap later to cover the undercut.
Allen came in with a 2.8-second advantage and left the lane with that lead intact. That gap continued to grow as Waters warred over second with Kostecki.
The final stanza was dominated by Allen. He skipped away to an eight-second win while Waters held off Kostecki for third.
Payne was fourth while Brown was up six places to an impressive fifth. Mostert’s recovery drive got him back to sixth ahead of Feeney, De Pasquale, Le Brocq, and Ojeda.
Results: Repco Supercars Championship betr Darwin Triple Crown, Race 2
Pos
Num
Driver
Team
Car
Lap/Diff
Gap
1
26
Kai Allen
Grove Racing
Ford Mustang GT
70 laps
2
6
Cameron Waters
Tickford Racing
Ford Mustang GT
8.6157
8.6157
3
17
Brodie Kostecki
Dick Johnson Racing
Ford Mustang GT
9.1641
0.5484
4
19
Matthew Payne
Grove Racing
Ford Mustang GT
10.177
1.0129
5
888
William Brown
Triple Eight Race Engineering
Ford Mustang GT
13.2645
3.0875
6
1
Chaz Mostert
Walkinshaw TWG Racing
Toyota GR Supra A90
15.8552
2.5907
7
88
Broc Feeney
Triple Eight Race Engineering
Ford Mustang GT
21.3064
5.4512
8
18
Anton De Pasquale
Team 18
Chev Camaro ZL1
21.6175
0.3111
9
4
Jack Le Brocq
Matt Stone Racing
Chev Camaro ZL1
29.2033
7.5858
10
31
Jayden Ojeda
PremiAir Racing
Chev Camaro ZL1
32.1074
2.9041
11
7
James Golding
Blanchard Racing Team
Ford Mustang GT
32.7314
0.624
12
55
Thomas Randle
Tickford Racing
Ford Mustang GT
38.8472
6.1158
13
38
Rylan Gray
Dick Johnson Racing
Ford Mustang GT
39.5887
0.7415
14
8
Andre Heimgartner
Brad Jones Racing
Toyota GR Supra A90
49.7766
10.1879
15
777
Declan Fraser
PremiAir Racing
Chev Camaro ZL1
50.3555
0.5789
16
96
Macauley Jones
Brad Jones Racing
Toyota GR Supra A90
51.6971
1.3416
17
20
David Reynolds
Team 18
Chev Camaro ZL1
52.9156
1.2185
18
99
Cooper Murray
Erebus Motorsport
Chev Camaro ZL1
55.7913
2.8757
19
14
Cameron Hill
Brad Jones Racing
Toyota GR Supra A90
1:01.0623
5.271
20
11
Jackson Walls
Triple Eight Race Engineering
Ford Mustang GT
1:03.1176
2.0553
21
3
Aaron Cameron
Blanchard Racing Team
Ford Mustang GT
1:07.1460
4.0284
22
10
Zach Bates
Matt Stone Racing
Chev Camaro ZL1
1:20.8970
13.751
23
9
Jobe Stewart
Erebus Motorsport
Chev Camaro ZL1
1 lap
0.1098
DNF
2
Ryan Wood
Walkinshaw TWG Racing
Toyota GR Supra A90
Lap 4