FORD DIDN’T JUST TAKE A WIN IN TOWNSVILLE. THEY TOOK CONTROL OF THE ENTIRE FRONT OF THE FIELD.
Cam Waters survived a flat-out final charge from Brodie Kostecki to win the opening race of the 2026 NTI Townsville 500, leading a complete Mustang podium sweep in the Repco Supercars Championship.
Waters crossed the line only 0.205 seconds ahead of Kostecki after 100 kilometers of street-circuit warfare. Matt Payne completed the podium in third, putting three Ford Mustangs across the line before another manufacturer could get a car into the fight.
That was only the beginning.
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Kai Allen finished fourth. Thomas Randle came home sixth. Will Brown recovered to seventh, while Broc Feeney rounded out the top 10.
Count them: seven Mustangs inside the first 10 finishing positions.
P1. P2. P3. P4. P6. P7. P10.
That is not one team stumbling onto a good setup. Waters, Kostecki and Payne represented three different Ford operations on the podium, with more Mustangs stacked immediately behind them. Tickford Racing won the race, Dick Johnson Racing nearly stole it, and Grove Racing walked away with the championship lead.
The Mustang worked everywhere.
Waters controlled the race from the front, but this was never comfortable. Kostecki started from pole before dropping backward during a messy opening exchange involving Payne. He recovered quickly, stretched his strategy and used fresher tires to hunt Waters through the closing laps.
By the final lap, the Shell V-Power Mustang was filling Waters’ mirrors.
Kostecki closed rapidly but could not find a clean opening. Waters positioned the Monster Castrol Mustang exactly where it needed to be, forcing Kostecki to choose between settling for second or attempting a move that could destroy both cars.
Kostecki chose the points. Waters chose the biggest burnout Townsville had seen all afternoon.
Behind them, Payne delivered the result that mattered beyond the podium celebration. His third-place finish moved him ahead of Feeney in the Repco Supercars Championship standings, turning a Mustang sweep into a championship lead change.
Payne entered Townsville 15 points behind Feeney. He left Friday’s sprint race on top.
That matters because Ford’s current Supercars strength is no longer limited to a single driver, team or weekend.
Waters has rediscovered his winning rhythm after breaking a lengthy victory drought at Darwin. Kostecki remains one of the hardest drivers in the category to keep behind when the tires and strategy come toward him. Payne now owns the championship lead, while Allen continues placing the second Grove Mustang near the sharp end.
Then there is the depth behind them.
Randle put another Tickford Mustang sixth. Brown climbed to seventh after Triple Eight’s difficult qualifying session. Feeney salvaged 10th and kept himself within striking distance of Payne in the title fight.
Ford did not need every Mustang to have a perfect day. It had enough fast cars across enough teams to overwhelm the front half of the order anyway.
That is the real statement from Townsville.
Supercars has spent years trying to create parity between manufacturers, body styles and technical packages. But parity on paper does not guarantee equal execution on the racetrack. At Reid Park, the Mustang had the front-running speed, tire life, strategic flexibility and driver depth to beat everything thrown at it.
Chevrolet could not break the podium. Toyota could not break the top four.
The Mustang filled the gaps.
For Ford fans, this is the kind of result that builds a car’s racing reputation. A single victory can be dismissed as strategy, luck or one driver having an exceptional afternoon. A podium sweep backed by seven cars in the top 10 is harder to explain away.
It means the package is working.
It means the teams understand it.
And it means the rest of the Repco Supercars Championship grid is no longer chasing one fast Ford—they are chasing an entire stable of them.
Townsville belonged to the Mustang, and until somebody breaks Ford’s grip on the front of this championship, the pony car is not part of the title fight.
It is the car everyone else has to beat.
Images sourced from Ford Racing / https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14f3K9MR26f/?mibextid=wwXIfr
