Gold Coast 500 Race Report 2024

The party weekend of the year had finally arrived for the Supercars Championship, with everyone’s hopes set on claiming a podium finish and leaving the Gold Coast with a surfboard or two.

The weekend started on the Thursday, with all 26 drivers participating in a track to town event similar to Bathurst two weeks before. Fans got the chance to meet their favourite drivers and see the cars up close and personal along the Surfers Paradise beach promenade.

Friday was the first official track day with two practise sessions to help teams and drivers get up to speed with the car and use all data gathered from these sessions to improve their car for the concrete jungle. With the pace in the car needing some tweaking, Chaz finished the day in 10^th position with the team ultimately deciding that the engine would need to be replaced after issues continued on from Bathurst.

Saturday was a really busy day, with qualifying, top 10 shootout and the first 250km race, all after a very late night for the team as they need to completely replace the engine, although there were high hopes that this could be what unlocks the pace around the streets of the Gold Coast.

Qualifying was first up with the top 10 progressing to the top 10 shootout later on in the day. The pace in the Mobil 1 Optus Mustang was significantly better than the previous day, with Chaz earning himself a ticket to the shootout finishing 2^nd.  The top 10 shootout allows the drivers some one-on-one time with the track, giving each driver one lap to set a time and see how it compares to the rest of the field. Tickford’s one-two qualification left Chaz to start on the second row in 3^rd for race 21 of the championship.

As race 21 got underway, there was a bit of push and shove coming down to the first chicane, Chaz keeping up with the top pack and putting pressure on those ahead of him. Around the halfway mark Chaz started to experience gear issues, with the steering wheel display showing he was in different gears and even reverse at some points. This impacted the overall driveability of the car leaving Chaz to drop down the order finishing in 10^th but still bringing in a decent points haul despite the significant challenges with the car.

The final day of the Gold Coast 500 was filled with another qualifying session, top 10 shootout and the final 250km race. After fixing up the car from the previous day WAU was after redemption. Qualifying went extremely well for both WAU drivers with rookie teammate Ryan Wood getting into the top 10, with Chaz following closely. After a great lap Chaz put himself onto the second row again, this time in 4^th. Race 22 was underway with Chaz making up a position in the early stages of the race putting himself into the podium places.

After a tough pitstop with a fuel issue Chaz was forced to pit again and this unfortunately put him down in 12^th position with very little time left to make his way back up to the leading pack. Despite the challenges, Chaz made up several positions and finished the race in 8^th position, an overall improvement from the previous day but a disappointing end to what could’ve been a great weekend for the team.

Supercars return to the streets of Adelaide on 14-17 November, for the last dance for 2024. With the championship to be wrapped up there it’s sure to make for some great racing, and hopefully some champagne for the boys and girls from WAU.

Read Ella’s previous report on the Bathurst 1000 race. 

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Ella Dingwall is a high school student with dreams of becoming a motorsport journalist.