Mozzie Bites

Chaz Mostert tells Mark Fogarty why his big Bathurst crash in 2015 didn’t slow him down as he moves into early title contention following a long-awaited return to victory lane with Prodrive Racing Australia.

- Mark Fogarty

In 2015, Chaz Mostert was Ford’s fast man. Before his season-ending qualifying crash at Bathurst, he captured 10 pole positions – by far the most that year – on top of five race wins.

Mostert should have forced a title showdown with Prodrive Racing Australia (PRA) teammate Mark Winterbottom, but a small error with big consequences at Mount Panorama ended his championship challenge.

The heavy Friday shunt left him with a broken left leg and wrist, plus ripped tendons in his left knee. He recovered to return in new Supercheap Auto Racing colours in 2016, but while he’d apparently lost none of his one-lap speed, PRA’s front-running form had departed.

Mostert was again the Falcon flyer last year, winning five pole positions, but there were no race wins for the lanky, mop-haired Melburnian.

His qualifying pace belied suggestions that the life-changing Bathurst crash had spooked him, but questions remained. Ironically, while DJR Team Penske’s early season surge has proved the Falcon FG X is still a pole-winning competitive force, Mostert had yet to top qualifying through the Phillip Island 500.

But he did score a cleverly calculated win amid all the tyre dramas in Sunday’s second 250km race at the Island, his first championship race win since before his Bathurst crash at Sydney Motorsport Park in 2015.

Whether Mostert remains a title contender depends on whether PRA can overcome its continued lack of race pace in normal conditions. The potential is there, with DJR Team Penske proving the FG X can take the fight right up to the Triple Eight Holden Commodores, maximising the extra grip of the new-construction Dunlops.

‘Mozzie’, 25, is one of Supercars’ more colourful drivers, combining his front-running pace with a knockabout personality, good humour and slightly dishevelled presentation.