“The rain has stopped, but there is more on the way right now.” Vectora had her eyes glued to the radar since the end of qualifying. “Assuming no shift in wind, I’d say about ten to fifteen laps in we’ll get our first downpour.”

“Might as well throw the Super Softs on early.” Viral suggested. “Get them on to try and to build up a lead as the showers hit. I can run in light rain for a while with the temps building in.”

“Good call, I’ll forward that to the others. Maybe Akula can make use of the Super Softs to get his way up the field early.”

“Has any of your fellow drones told you that you’re incredibly smart?”

Vectora blushed at Viral’s comment, unsure how to react. Akula joined in on the conversation.

“You two discussing something?”

“Weather.” Vectora continued. “We’re basically certain that there’s gonna be rain around ten laps in. The idea was to get you both on Super Softs to try and utilize the grip advantage to make up ground before the showers hit. They should last more than long enough after what we saw yesterday.”

“Very well, I like that. And hey, V, do your thing.”

“You too.”

The team put together final preparations, fitting both cars with the blue wall tires and joining the rest of the field on the grid. Viral drove through the entire roster to park underneath the ArmorAll Pole board, She was easily the center of attention on the grid, and just in front of her the broadcasters were out doing their pre-race work on the grid.

As she took some time to compose herself, her music was interrupted by one of the engineers trying to get her attention. She popped an earphone out to listen, but instead she was given to Neil Crompton, one of the head commentators.

“Sorry to interrupt you Viral seems like you were quite busy there with some tunes.”

“Nah it’s fine, just trying to relax before the race you know.”
“Ah no big deal, I tell ya my hair is still standing up a bit. You did that lap with absolutely no fear.”

“I tell ya my secret Neil, I love to send it when it’s raining. Nah, nah, but for real It feels great to have a pole to my name this early into the season. I tell you I don’t think anyone worked harder over the winter than the boys and girls back in that garage to get these cars ready as quickly as they did, and to put this Holden where it is, clear track ahead, I’m pumped I can’t wait to get going.”

“Right and I’m sure your excited to know that we might have even more weather coming, tell me how is it that you do so well in these tricky conditions like we had in qualifying?”

“I mean good car control is key in any form of motorsport, I mean it’s a key skill to have. Being able to understand how much throttle and brake you use, how much steering you give it. You have to find that balance of power and control to keep it just on the edge of spinning. Not so slow, but not too fast either.”

“I’ve just looked down you know to see what tires on it, and that’s quite telling. Got a bit of blue on here, we can see here brodie Kostecki same story, and further back Anton on a bit harder tire. With Brodie on the cleaner side of the track do you think the key to getting a result revolves around getting a good start?”

“Yeah, it’s not the end of the world but getting that launch and getting out front…maybe get a bit of a lead going before the weather hits us, could go a long way to getting that result.”

“Think a win is on the table?”

“I’m a dreamer Neil but I’m worried about cursing myself if I get too confident.”

“Good call.”

Neil began to wonder off and talk to others, leaving Viral to finish preparations before the race. She got strapped into the car with her helmet and got on with checks.

“Got a reading?"

“I’m all ears now.”

“You look pretty good on TV Sheila, well It’s a long way from the front of the grid to our pit box so I’m really hoping the weather stays on schedule cause I’d rather stay dry if I can."

“You’ll be fine Neon.”

“Ah, says the one inside the vehicle."

While Neon and Viral were bickering, Akula also finished up with his pre-race preparations.

“Not where we’d like to be, but we also have faster cars behind us. We’ve got plenty of time to pull our way back up so let’s not rush this and get caught up in something messy. Make moves, but don’t get too ambitious."

“Weather really scrambled us up, I mean Shane, Slade, Will Brown.”

“Fast cars behind us, slower cars in front of us. It's gonna be a long day.”

“Thirty seconds.”

That was the countdown to the warm up lap, which Viral led the field for. It was all calm in the cockpit for the pegasus, she had been in this position before. Not in Supercars, but in many other places. Akula was in strange territory though, all the way back in 16th.

They were looking at two very different races ahead of them, and with weather looming it could shake things up even more in the coming laps. For now, Neon guided Viral into the number one grid slot.

“Three…Two…One..Stop, perfect. Go get after it.”

“Two..One…Stop, good here.” Akula lined up on the outside of the 8th row. He watched Garry Jacobson enter the pits, for he and Tim Slade had to start in the pits for putting on wet tires before the race had been declared wet by Race Control.

“Green Flag”

“Green Flag”

Engines were revving, and Viral’s heart began to thump violently, but she didn’t have time to care. She had a race start to get on with, and get on with it she did. Brodie Kostecki did not get off the line and De Pasquale snuck up his inside into turn one. Viral had bolted from pole and immediately got into her leading rhythm.

Akula’s start was fine, but he didn’t get a jump on any cars ahead of him and so settled into 15th place going through the first turn. As Viral put her Super Soft tires to use and began to build a lead on lap one he set out to cut his way through the field. He found a moment to jump to the inside in turn two. There was some push and shove going on around him, but he managed to hold from making any contact as he sorted his way through on lap one.

He found himself following Chris Pither through the first sector, and was three abreast with Heimgartner and Bryce Fullwood for position as they came through turn four. In his mirrors he caught a glimpse of Macauley Jones ride over the left front fender of David Reynolds.
Finally moving up on Fullwood, he went on the hunt once more, but finding moves this far done proved difficult with Heimgartner and Hazelwood side by side in front of him. After one lap, the field finally began to spread out a bit to allow him more room to look for moves.

Viral meanwhile had built a gap from De Pasquale to just over a second. Brodie eventually passed him on lap two but by then Viral had a healthy margin to run her race with. Akula took little time to grab spots first from Heimgartner, then Will davison, and began to run down Chris Pither who was also on Super Softs.

He made his move at turn eight on lap three and moved himself up to 11th spot, then Frosty the next lap at turn two. He was a little more patient with Scott Pye, but by lap six went for the move once again at turn two. Then repeated it on James Courtney on lap seven. With the faster tires, he and Will Brown as well were cutting their way through the pack early.

The threat of weather still loomed, and with the drops starting to fall the race was declared wet by race control.

“Get those wet tires ready, soon as this stuff starts coming down I want to be ahead of the curve.”

“Copy. Just give us the word."

Next on his list was Scott Pye, which he dispatched on the same lap at his other favorite overtaking spot turn eight, the car next up was Waters, but he was nearly three seconds up the road.

Viral was having a perfect start to her race, maintaining a two second advantage to Brodie and company while also managing her tires with smooth driving.

“Getting some drops down here V. Weather’s a bit ahead of schedule.”

“It’s nothing yet, I can stay out if it stays like this.”

“All clear, keep doing what you’re doing."

The rain began to come down more over the course of the lap, but Viral soldiered on. In the background though, Akula saw something. A bluish/white car, it looked like a Triple Eight Engineering car. It spewed off behind him in turn eleven at the end of lap seven. Broc Feeney was way ahead of him, so that could only mean…Shane had spun at turn eleven again.

He didn’t let it disturb his rhythm, but seeing Shane make repeated errors was quite surprising. Then again, the rain was definitely coming down. He didn’t have time to make the call at the end of lap, but he made it pretty quickly.

“Box, pit confirm?”

“Confirm, Box Wets?"

“Yes, wets.”

“Copy, stop this lap for Wets."

Behind him, Garry Jacobson, Bryce Fullwood, and Shane, having wrestled his car from the mud and grass, took the initiative to stop for those wet tires. Akula eased his way around the track, made his way into the lane with Lee Holdsworth and James Courtney, got onto the wet tires, and added in a little of the fuel they needed before he was sent off.

“Akula has just boxed for wets, box is clear when you are ready."

“Tires are still hot, I’m staying out. Give me updates on his laps, and the gap behind to Brodie.”

“Copy, gap to the #99 is 2.3 seconds. I’ll have a lap report for you soon."

Viral kept going, the surface was slick but still drivable. If she surrendered the lead too early then she may lose time to those she was racing with. She had to wait until one of the top five runners made the move, so she could try to cover it off. She completed lap nine feeling good about where she was.

“Last lap was a 1:37:6, gap to car behind is now 2.5."

“Cars on wets?”

“Holdsworth, Akula, Courtney, Pither, Fullwood, van Gisburgen, Jones."

Todd Hazelwood spun around as well at turn eleven, with some help from Brodie’s brother Jake Kostecki, who was given a time penalty for the contact. Meanwhile, Akula and the rest of the wet tire runners were beginning to lose touch with the rest of the field.

“Akula’s last lap was a 1:40.5."

“Copy.”

Safer option or not, the wet tire was noticeably slower than the dry tires with the current conditions. Those on wet tires were over a minute behind Viral and the rest of the top five. On lap thirteen Viral managed to lap a quite frustrated Shane van Gisburgen.

With the rain lightening up and the pace difference staring him in the face, Akula realized he had made the wrong call, but he laid in the grave he had dug for himself regardless as the leading car on wet tires. Hoping that the rain would pick up and give him a reason to justify the move. Yet, as he went on Shane decided to bail on the Wets, only for the Red Bull Ampol Racing Team to butcher the stop on the left rear

Viral had lapped Jacobson and Fullwood, and was on her way to Jack Smith. Holdsworth bailed off the Wets, Jack Smith followed suit. It was beginning to get harder for Akula to stay the course even with the weather just over the horizon. After several more laps Chris Pither also abandoned the wet tires.

Viral had a nice gap built up now, hovering around three seconds, but she was closing quickly on her teammate who was still riding around on the wet tires he thought were the right call at the time. She began easing up a little bit, with Akula now the only car still running the wet tires by the end of lap 21.

However there was some good news, with how long Akula had gone on the wet tires he had driven into his Super Soft to Soft pit window. On lap 22 he finally came in, put on the Softs, and was off. If he could pick the pace back up, he might be able to stay on the lead lap through cycles.

Surely enough, on lap 28, the front runners also began to take scheduled stops. Mostert, Kostecki, De Pasquale, and Waters all pitted for a new set of dry tires. Viral and Feeney followed suit and soon Akula was back on the lead lap.

Viral slotted into a nice 5th after her stop, Brodie Kostecki putting less fuel into his car allowing him to jump her in the cycle. As she began to chase after him, Jake Kostecki spun it around at the treacherous turn eleven just ahead of the leaders. Viral navigated her way around him, but it only brought out a sector yellow for the time being.

He tried to get it going again, but with all the traffic flowing through he couldn’t get it spun back around, eventually stalling around the outside of the corner. Problems compounded as Garry Jacobson had a similar stalling issue at the top of the track near turn five, due to low fuel pressure. With two separate incidents, the first safety car of the season was scrambled, and with it Akula’s race was rescued.

A lot of cars did pitstops, but both Viral and Akula opted not to. They had stopped very recently, and so did not see much benefit from it. Viral had the two Erebus Motorsport cars in front of her now, while Akula had miraculously found himself back where he started in 16th between Percat and Holdsworth. .

“I’m seeing a larger storm on its way, but it won’t be here for some time. We can still save this race."

“You’re faster than these guys, but we still have a long way to go. More weather on the way too."

It took a while to recover the two stricken cars at separate areas of the track, but the racing eventually resumed at the start of lap thirty-five. Viral had to deal with two teammates ahead of her, but only one of them was on a similar strategy to her, that being Brodie.

She had one more stop to worry about, so she was fine with where she was on track, keen to sit behind Brodie should he make a mistake. Akula meanwhile was desperate to save some points from this race, but with the track still somewhat slippery is was going to be a task.

On the restart Viral had Scott Pye in her mirrors, but that was quickly replaced by a very fast De Pasquale utilizing his set of Super Softs. Viral decided not to fight it at turn eight, and De Pasquale went after the Erebus teammates with haste. Brodie and Brown traded spots, De Pasquale made the move on Brown at the end of the lap, and Viral waited for a moment to scoop up the #9 on the following lap at turn eleven.

Akula was having a heck of a battle with both of the WAU cars Mostert and Percat, trying to find a way to fight back into the top ten. It went on for a few laps, Mostert continuing to be a tough match for the changeling regardless of the conditions, but even then he didn’t let it get to him. There was still much more of the race to go, and keeping up with Mostert could prove beneficial once the #25 got up to speed again.

Viral’s gap to Brown was steadily increasing, while managing to keep in touch with Anton and Brodie ahead, an ideal scenario for the final sequence of pit stops, where all of them would be on equal footing. Viral had been in position to maybe win this race before the safety car, but she would have been ecstatic for a podium regardless. For her, it was going to be simply keeping it steady through the changing conditions.

As the laps went by and the positions in the field settled, there were two main factors at play. Weather was the more obvious curveball in this race, but more so was the strategy of the teams, especially after the safety car. Would the teams pit again for dry tries, sacrificing track position and praying for the rain to be held at bay, or gamble on the rain coming in force and using that change of tires to cover their remaining pitstop?

Akula and Viral had differing opinions on the matter, but after Akula’s initial decision had gone awry, the team eventually formed similar strategies. There was definitely rain coming, they had enough fuel and tire life to make it, but they would need to drive conservatively to make it that far. Consistent lap after consistent lap followed, a podium finish for the team lay in the balance of the weather.

Akula did manage to make some headwind whilst chasing Mostert, a pass on Andre Heimgartner on lap forty-two moved him into 13th, but it wasn’t much more than that. James Courtney was fast behind, Mostert was fast in front, and Akula was in between the two of them. Thankfully, Mostert began to pick up the pace, picking up a spot on Winterbottom on the subsequent lap forty-four, with some commotion ahead as Scott Pye was falling fast from a mighty 5th, being passed by Davison, Waters, Feeney, and Slade.
Akula and company drove up on them fast, Jack le Brocq tried to pass Pye and Slade around the outside at turn eight, and Akula could smell trouble. He had planned on passing Winterbottom, but something about this commotion ahead of him felt off. They did eventually sort themselves out by the time they reached the next lap, and Frosty fancied himself a go at Mostert, who was chasing his Team 18 compatriot Pye down the pit straight. Finally, Akula made his move on the veteran champion of the series at his favorite overtaking point turn two, with James Courtney looking to follow, and Shane trying to battle back into contention after Courtney muscled Frosty wide.

Akula did not want to lose Mostert, even as the #25 looked to be the next car to overtake Scott Pye. Chaz made the move at turn four, and after some friendly persuasion Akula followed suit at the next corner. It brought him back up to eleventh.

He got around Pye at a good point, as his downfall inevitably brought on trouble. After Pye’s teammate got past him, Nick Percat took his chances, diving up the inside at turn seven. They locked wheels and spilled off into the gravel. Pye made it out, Percat did not.

When the second safety car came out, Viral had already passed the pit lane entrance, but that was good for the team so that they didn’t need to double stack. They could fill the cars with the rest of the required fuel now, and not have to worry if and when the rain returned. Akula was in first, the last of the fuel filled in and the final set of Hards put on. Viral had to cycle all the way around the track, but the team were more than ready for her by the time she got back around. There was a bit of a hold as a couple cars entered the lane, but she managed to get out of the box safely and without impeding any other drivers.

When she filed out, it was behind Mostert. The only driver that had kept pace with her in the rain all weekend. In the end she was fourth, sixth counting Courtney and Holdsworth who stayed out. They had lost time simply from where the pit box was located, and no one could do anything to prevent that.

Akula, having to dump a lot of fuel into the car to make it to the end, was released into 15th place, but now he was free to attack as he pleased. Eventually Percat was released by the gravel trap, and after a short cleanup the race resumed with another scrambled order.

Chaz Mostert got ambitious early, trying to move alongside De Pasquale on the restart, and Viral got a great view of the battle of Holden and Ford going into turn one and through turn two. Mostert escorted Anton wide at turn two and Viral just managed to squeeze a fender inside on the exit. They ran side by side for the next few corners, Viral managing to hang on the outside for three and four before finally clearing on the inside of turn five.

Back into podium contention, and pressing on for more. It was obvious that Mostert was the car that she needed to chase. He had gotten the better of both AKV Motorsports cars for most of the weekend, but there was still time to flip that script. Brodie Kostecki found his way through Lee Holdsworth, Mostert and Viral soon followed with De Pasquale closing.

Akula was having a scrap with the two Truck Assist cars as he was once again fighting through traffic. If there was an award for most overtakes in the race, he probably would have won it, but in his mind he was just trying to find any way to get a decent result out of this wacky race. Next up for him were the two Penrite Mustangs of Holdsworth and Reynolds as well as Will Brown.

The fight for the lead raged on, Brodie Kostecki finally dispatching James Courtney was Chaz Mostert on him like a wild dog, Viral not too far behind them. Mostert then immediately attacked Brodie, performing an over under move at the top of the hill, completing the move at turn seven. Viral was encouraged by this to not get stuck behind, and so when they came around through turn eleven and into the front straight, she pulled alongside the #99, side drafting all the way into turn one, and committed to the overtake with authority. All that was left in front was Mostert

Akula had his own battle going on with the other Erebus car of Will Brown, with the weather on it’s way every position mattered to him. Shane was still stuck in 18th, but now he was back on the lead lap and with the pace he showed in the previous race it was only a matter of time before the defending champ wrestled his way back into contention.

Try as he might, Brown was fighting hard and fighting well, and the rain was incoming. Viral was fighting for a chance at victory, Akula was fighting to even keep himself in contention. With the weather oncoming, he resigned to racing behind Brown for the time being. Hoping that Viral would extend a gap long enough so that they could pit both cars with double stacking. He believed that the team was capable of delivering a fast stop, this would be the true test.

The laps began to tick by, and Will Brown closed up to Broc Feeney looking for a pass. Akula was happy to pick up the move as well, breaking into 11th place as Feeney began to muscle around with the Truck Assist cars right behind him, getting off into the dirt between turns seven and eight but managing to keep it straight, and then beating and banging with them later as they went down the pit straight.

Even with the tire disadvantage, Viral was holding Mostert to within a second. The rain would be coming soon, but the #25 was pulling away ever so slightly as the laps ticked by. Viral could have smelled the win, but she was trying too hard, and just like in practice and qualifying made the same mistake in turn one and lost a bit of time.

She resigned herself to second for the time being, she was still pulling away from Kostecki. 2nd place would still be incredible, but she would need to stop making unforced errors.

“Weather is inbound, very likely we’ll be getting rain before this is over."

That was all Viral needed to hear, she would have time to maybe close this up a bit more. The laps ticked by, the weather was on it’s way, but all she and Akula could do was concentrate and wait. On lap sixty-one the first drops began to fall, and it only got heavier over the course of the next couple laps. Viral had the gap to Mostert within two seconds, and the same back to Brodie. Akula was still hot on the heels of Will Brown, both of whom were closing on Cam Waters.

“Give me a heads up on when someone bails onto wets, I want to be ahead of the curve here.”

Akula would be relying on someone else making the decision first, but the team had a set of wet tires ready for both cars. Heavy rain was beginning to form, and they still had fifteen laps to go on a very long circuit. On the start of lap sixty-four Lee Holdsworth and James Courtney pitted for wet tires first, but the team held off just one more lap. They figured they could try and pinpoint the crossover period to get the maximum benefit of the tires.

Viral and Mostert were in their own league, the only two drivers maintaining competitive pace despite the worsening conditions.

“Rain is getting heavier V, I trust you know what you are doing but don’t be afraid to come in at any time."

Finally at the start of lap sixty-six, Akula turned into pit lane following Brodie Kostecki and Tim Slade whilst being followed by van Gisburgen and Winterbottom. The weather was not going to slow down, and he most definitely did not want to interfere with Viral’s race or get caught in a stack. This was the true test, no fuel, just a quick stop to put wet tires on and get going.

He gingerly eased the car onto the mark, and within seconds the #98 was away with its newest set of wet tires. There was no time to celebrate the stop, the more important one was coming around any second. Chaz and Viral were alone in their own little bubble on track, but Brodie undercutting threatened to cut that gap down if they didn’t respond.

The stop from AKV Motorsports was incredibly smooth, the front tires were bolted on at the same moment, the rear left matching them, and the rear right not far behind. Viral was off, but WAU had done enough to get Chaz out in front. For the first time since Chaz took the lead, Viral had it in her head that she could pull this one off.

The pit crew had done their job, Akula and Viral just needed to finish up. Meanwhile, a very brave Jack Le Brocq remained on track with his slick tires, trying desperately to make a miracle happen in the #34. Viral began very smoothly closing down the gap between herself and Mostert to less than a second.

Akula, well he found himself fighting Shane for 11th spot on track, the first on track battle between the #97 and #98 Commodores, but between Shane’s experience and wet weather expertise, Akula did not press the issue. He was more concerned about finishing this race. 12th spot would be more than okay, especially knowing that Viral was making an effort to do what he could not do the prior day, after Mostert had snatched a podium from him the previous night.

So with Le Brocq leading a daring strategy and Viral and Chaz battling for the lead should it not pay off, the final ten laps would become a thriller. Viral wanted to be patient, the rain could swallow anyone up at any moment including Mostert and even herself. If she tried to force anything, it could ruin her race or both of them.

Ten laps cut down to eight, and Le Brocq was caught and passed by the #25 and #24 cars, with the traffic out of the way it seemed that the fight would go down to the two of them. Yet, Le Brocq could only survive so long on those slick tires, and one lap later with seven to go, the slicks finally could grip the track no longer. Le Brocq simply slid off line into the gravel and was beached.

A final safety car ensued, bunching Chaz and Viral back up with Brodie, Anton, and the rest of the field. Akula was just on the fringes of a top ten finish, and this brought hope that it may be possible.

The race restarted with three laps to go, and Akula engaged in a battle with Brown, Reynolds, and Slade in a fight for a top ten. He was side by side with Reynolds, with Slade side by side with Brown ahead. He had to concede the inside line to Reynolds for the moment, but held firm in twelfth looking for an opening as the three ahead of him did battle. An opening presented itself in the form of Brown and Slade going wide in turn two.

Now it was Reynolds side by side with Tim Slade, he needed to be patient on what was now a very wet track. Finally Reynolds made his way around Slade at turn nine, and Akula managed to find a gap to get alongside at turn eleven, making the move under brakes at turn one on the subsequent lap. He would remain there in eleventh.

The race for the win however was still on with two laps to go, but as he had before in practice and qualifying, Mostert proved to be formidable for Viral. Even with the elements, Viral’s lack of experience with the Supercar allowed Mostert to muster up an impenetrable defense for the final two laps.

Yet, it did not matter at all. Viral resigned from fighting Mostert by the time the white flag fell. She did not need to make a mistake now, not when a second place finish was on the table. Mostert would round the final corner with a celebratory weave as he crossed the line for his first win of the season, taking control of the championship after two consecutive podium finishes.

However, it was the car behind him that was the real story of the race. Converting a stunning pole to a respectable second place finish, Viral did a flyby of the pit wall to take home the teams first podium as an individual outfit. A long winter, having to earn back the reputation they had built for years in motorsport, building their own team from the ground up, rocking up and showing the world and Supercars that in fact…AKV Motorsports was going to be a real threat.

The action behind them was not over however, as the cars began to cool down after crossing the line, Mark Winterbottom and Todd Hazelwood spilled off into the gravel trap after the finish.

There were celebrations in the cars and in the garage, Akula heading over to meet them after a very up and down race for him, but Viral was on her way to the podiums stand with Mostert and Kostecki. Taking off her helmet, and replacing it with her first yellow podium cap of the year.

“Viral Velocity, started on pole, first podium of the season as a rookie and with a brand new team. Congratulations, you drove like a true champion today.”

“Yeah, unfortunately Chaz was ultimately better. He and I have been at each others hips in practice and qualifying all weekend so I find it fitting that we ended up finishing one and two. These cars are so fun to drive, especially in the wet, maybe with a little more experience I can fight for a win in this situation. Hey, first podium, there are still ways we can improve, especially with how young this team is.”

“Congrats, and great job at the shootout to grab that pole position. Now go and celebrate with your team.”

“I will.”

But first, there was a podium ceremony to attend alongside Mostert and Brodie.

“In 2nd Place, from the Axalta Racing Team and AKV Motorsports, Viral Velocity.”

She joined Brodie on the step, shortly before Mostert and his glorious blue hair arrived at the top step between them. Viral had to spread her wings and balance on her hind legs to receive the 2nd place trophy, but it was worth it after the long weekend and the effort every member of the team had put in to get to this very moment, but she quickly set it down…gently as to keep it safe.

Once she had the chance, she grabbed the champagne and immediately went after Chaz and his hair with her favorite fizzy spray, Brodie too joined in the assault, and Chaz gave his engineers a drink as Viral and Brodie left the stage.

Author's Note

Sydney Supernight Race 1 Results

1. Chaz Mostert
2. Viral Velocity (Pole Position)
3. Brodie Kosteki
4. Anton De Pasquale
5. Cameron Waters
6. Andre Heimengarter
7. Shane Van Gisbergen
8. Will Davidson
9. Will Brown
10. David Reynolds
11. Akula
12. Tim Slade
13. Broc Feeney (Fastest Lap)
14. Mark Winterbottom
15. Todd Hazelwood
16. Thomas Randle
17. Scott Pye
18. Lee Holdsworth
19. James Courtney
20. Jack Smith
21. Bryce Fullwood
22. Chris Pither
23. Macauley Jones
24. Jack Le Brocq
25. Nick Percat
26. Jake Kostecki
27. Garry Jacobson - Retired