In the early stages of the race it looked to be a battle between front-row starters Cam Waters and Scott Pye.

Waters led Pye across the first stint, the gap steadily increasing to around 2.5s before Pye took his first stop on Lap 24.

Waters followed suit two laps later, the Tickford driver resuming with a comfortable margin over Pye – only to nearly throw it away on Lap 28 when he clipped the wall at Turn 11.

That put Pye right under his rear wing, Waters defending into the last corner as Pye ran wide trying to get past.

Shane van Gisbergen was another driver that looked in the hunt early on with a stirring drive from the back of the grid.

He worked his way into the Top 10 within 12 laps and was well-placed, with plenty of fuel, in 11th after his first stop.

However a Lap 38 safety car, sparked by Jack Le Brocq burying his Holden in the tyre wall at Turn 11, changed the complexion of the race.

The majority of the field hit the lane for a second stop, the likes of Waters and Pye falling just short of clearing the 140-litre minimum fuel drop.

That meant they would need a third stop, while Mostert, Nick Percat (who stopped twice behind the safety car) and James Courtney were among those to squeeze enough fuel in to satisfy the regulations.

There was still a question mark over their fuel, though, with plenty of saving required to get home.

When the race went green on Lap 41 van Gisbergen’s hopes unravelled thanks to an unsuccessful pass attempt on…