Holden's Chaz Mostert has survived wet and wild conditions to win Sunday's 300km Supercars race at Sydney Motorsport Park.
The Bathurst champion improved on his third-place finish in Saturday's season-opening race to claim the victory ahead of pole-sitter Brodie Kostecki and Ford's Anton De Pasquale.
Mostert's win means he departs from the season-opening event holding a championship lead for the first time in his career on 279 points, 12 points clear of Shell V-Power's De Pasquale.
The field completed 60 laps with the threat of rain hovering in the background before the heavens opened.
Kostecki, who had earlier in the day secured the first pole position of his career, attempted to undercut Mostert and De Pasquale by pitting first to put on wet tyres.
His rivals pitted a lap later and while Kostecki held position over De Pasquale he was unable to catch Mostert with the Walkinshaw Andretti United driver's Commodore proving too fast in the wet.
Matt Stone Racing's Jack Le Brock gambled by staying on slick tyres but his bid for a podium ended with seven laps to go when he slid off in the deteriorating conditions.
That sparked a late safety car and three-lap sprint to the finish line but Mostert was again untouchable as he pulled away from the field.
De Pasquale held off a fast-finishing Cameron Waters to claim his second podium of the weekend after finishing second on Saturday.
Defending champion Shane Van Gisbergen, who started a lowly 21st and had a shocking first half of the race which at one point had the Holden star a lap and a half down on the field and lapped by the race leaders, did a brilliant salvage job to finish sixth.
The next stop of the 2022 Supercars championship is at Symmons Plains in Tasmania from March 26.
ABC/wires
