CAM Waters was on a redemption mission during Sunday's second Bathurst 500 race of the weekend at Mount Panorama after a mechanical issue had cut his first race short.
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And it was on track until the first pit stop.
Waters got off to an excellent start to sweep past pole sitter Shane van Gisbergen when the green flag waved and he built up a lead of 1.5 seconds before the latter decided to pit on lap 14.
One lap later Waters pitted from the lead, took on slightly more fuel than van Gisbergen did, and emerged from pit lane with his rival right on his tail.
Van Gisbergen took the lead going up the Mount and from there Waters watched the gap grow with every lap.
The second round of pit stops did nothing to change the course of the race.
"I think where I came out wasn't where the team expected. They'll delve into why that happened. Hindsight's a wonderful thing and I'm sure that if we could change that then we would," Waters said.
"In that first stint I was looking after my tyres and towards the end I felt like I had a bit more pace than Shane. When it was flipped the other way though Shane's car looked like it did better in the clean air than mine did.
"I think Shane had the faster car than me today. If I came out ahead of him would it have been a different story? Maybe. It's hard to tell but I would have liked to find out."
Waters put himself in a position to win after his excellent start from the front row.
He flew past van Gisbergen and the pair formed a small break over the field.
"It was a mega start. My initial was about the same as Shane's but my secondary was amazing. It really surprised me. It was a good start which helped to set up the race for me," he said.
"I was racing my own race in that first stint and then obviously after that it played out the way it did."
Shane van Gisbergen won both of the weekend's races to lead Chaz Mostert and Mark Winterbottom in the championship.
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