Tyrepower & Bendix Racing’s Nick Percat has executed a strategy masterclass on Saturday afternoon at Symmons Plains Raceway, netting a Race 17 victory at the 2024 NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint.
 
The overcut proved vital with Percat taking the race lead ahead of Red Bull Ampol Racing’s Broc Feeney and Monster Castrol Racing’s Cam Waters as the cars completed their pit stop cycles.
 
Percat made light work of the front row duo in what would be his second race win of the year, taking advantage of track position and tyre temperature to make up time while Feeney and Waters made their stops and battled traffic.
 
The Matt Stone Racing campaign wasn’t without its challenges, with Mobil1 Optus Racing’s Chaz Mostert making a late charge to finish second to be within half a second of the leader with four laps to go. While Mostert got close, he couldn’t get past Percat and settled for the second step on the podium.
 
It was a proud day for Matt Stone Racing, Saturday’s victory marking their third ever race win and best finish at the venue.


 
Percat was quick to recognise the efforts of team owner Matt Stone, as well as the impact of Race Engineer, Jack Bellotti.
 
“It’s amazing, the Bendix car has been on rails since we rolled it out of the truck. It’s a pleasure to drive,” Percat said.
 
“I can’t thank Matt, Belotti, everyone on my car – the faith is there, we had the faith to go well.
 
“You know when you’re a driver when you’ve got a good car and if the race goes your way, you think you can win it. When I sat on the grid I thought, ‘this is ours to win’.
 
“We knew our strategy, we stuck to the plan the whole time. Even when the lapped cars were coming in, I said, ‘we’re not coming in before anyone else, we want the overcut’.
 
“It will give us really good confidence, but all the hard work was in the workshop before. The preparation on the car, the bodywork fitting, the base set up – it was unbelievable.”
 
Meanwhile, championship leader Will Brown quietly worked his way through the pack in Launceston, managing a seventh-place finish despite starting 15th on the grid after a chaos-filled qualifying session.
 
At the close of Race 17, Brown maintains the lead in the 2024 standings – however, Mostert’s late surge coupled with his two consecutive Sydney wins means only 63 points separate him from Brown.
 
View the full results from Symmons Plains Raceway here.
 
The action continues on Sunday with Race 18 of the 2024 Repco Supercars Championship, with a short practice and qualifying burst before lights out in the weekend’s final race at 3.05pm AEST.