Trackside report: Townsville 500

Supercars landed up in sunny Townsville recently for the 2024 NTI Townsville 500.

The festivities kicked off on the Thursday afternoon with the “Track to Town” event; all cars from all teams were police escorted from the track through the streets of Townsville before arriving at The Strand to meet fans before the high-speed action started.

The first practice session was a tough one for Walkinshaw Andretti United with the pace still lacking - although the team was able to turn that around before the final practice session, with Chaz managing a P4 to finish off the Friday.

Saturday started with qualifying, with Chaz finishing inside the top ten, earning his spot in the top ten shoot-out for race 13 of the season! One quick lap later, the Mobil 1 Optus rocket was on the front row behind Cam Waters, meaning it was a Ford front-row lockout.

After a good start from both drivers, the top three remained the same for the opening laps. After all the sun and rain, three-stop strategies, and two-stop strategies, the checkered flag was waved, seeing Cam Waters as the winner of race 13, with Chaz following closely behind in second place, earning him another podium and a well-deserved shoey.

The final day rolled around, with just 250kms to go. For Sunday, the team changed the setup of both cars with the hopes of improving tire management in the latter stages of the race. Unfortunately, these changes limited the one-lap qualifying pace, resulting in qualifying being a bit of a struggle and leaving Chaz to start the race from P8.

Despite the lower starting position, Chaz was a man on a mission, making it up to 4^th within the first five laps. Three pit stops later, and a lot of overtakes due to position changes after the pit stops, Chaz came home to finish P3, finishing another great weekend on the podium with yet another shoey.

Being able to watch the race from “The Best Seats in the House” thanks to Optus was an unforgettable experience, getting to see all the behind-the-scenes action between sessions, listening in over the team radio during qualies and the races, having the opportunity to do the grid walk on Saturday and see all the cars, minutes before they fly down the straight chasing after each other.

Sharing this experience with my grandparents was amazing, and I’m so grateful to the team at Optus for continuing to support me and my career.

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.