DISAPPOINTING WARRNAMBOOL NIGHT FOR WATERS

Story from Auto Action (and filed by Thomas Miles)

The speedway return of Supercars star Cameron Waters in Warrnambool last Saturday night, December 17, had looked promising, but ended on a disappointing note.

As Jock Goodyer held off James McFadden to win the Max’s Race at Premier Speedway, Waters had looked to be in contention until coming unstuck after striking a rut on just the second lap of the race.

The Monster Mustang racer was the first DNF of the A-Main on Saturday night, which was the opening race of his off-season speedway campaign for Chief Racing.

This year’s Supercars Championship runner-up who recently won the Drivers’ Driver award at the Gala awards had been dovetailing his full-time commitments with some speedway cameos throughout the year and scored a couple of podiums at Mildura and Moama.

For Waters’ latest dirt drive he was accompanied by Tickford teammate Thomas Randle and started well when the new-look Chief Racing car rolled out of the truck with instant pace.

He was the fastest driver in the opening hot laps session where he went three seconds faster than the rest of the eight-car field, while a consistent run in time trials put him eighth in his group.

Waters’ speed showed no signs of slowing down when the racing side of things arrived, after he dominated heat two.

The win in the 10-lap affair was a breakthrough for eight-time Supercars race winner, while a fighting drive in his maiden Dash, ensured a third row start for the headline event.

Waters’ A-Main campaign looked to be on track as he slotted into sixth place on the opening lap before disaster struck on lap two.

The yellow and black Chief Racing #6 entry crashed out at turn two after Waters could not regain control when he hit a rut.

He spun and crashed out with the major rear-end damage sustained bringing the night to an early close.

Waters said one small mistake proved costly on the “super fast” track.

“Had a lot of fun tonight being back in the car,” said Waters, who finished second in the 2022 Supercars season.

“The crew built me a new car and it looks amazing in its new colours.

“Hot laps went pretty well, the same as time trials.

“We were eight for our group which put us on the front row of our heat and managed to convert that into a win which was awesome.

“The track was super fast and really rough. I just hit a rut and put it in the wall; so that was our night done.

“Bit disappointing, but a lot of cars hit it in the rough, so I wasn’t alone.

“A massive thanks to all the crew and our sponsors for everything.”