After a stirring battle with Brodie Kostecki’s Erebus Chevrolet Camaro, Reynolds and his Grove Racing Ford Mustang prevailed by the narrow margin of 0.18s.
The Grove Racing driver drove a clever race, settling into second place and seizing the lead when he had a shorter second fuel stop than Kostecki. But Kostecki regained the lead with 10 laps to go, only to make a mistake and allow Reynolds back to the front.
The complexion of the race changed completely with a Safety Car with seven laps remaining, after fourth-placed James Golding crashed the PremiAir Chevrolet Camaro at the Chicane and Scott Pye found the track blocked when he arrived in the Team18 Camaro.
That left a three-lap dash to the flag and, in spite of some nose-to-tail contact, Reynolds held on to take the victory.
“My car was really good in the first two stints but not so good over the final bit,” said Reynolds, whose last Supercars win came five years ago on the streets of Newcastle.
“He definitely was pushing me, I thought I was going to get crashed! It was a really hard-fought race, I loved it.”
Kostecki had to be content with second and maintaining his series points lead.
“I really wanted a surfboard! They just beat us on strategy but the car had amazing speed,” Kostecki said, referring to the traditional Gold Coast winners’ trophies.
“It’s just what the doctor ordered. I felt it was a disadvantage to be the lead car and I was able to use that on Dave. Awesome weekend, to come away with the same gap going to Adelaide. I kept getting reminded on the radio, I can understand why they [his team] were getting on the radio during the race.”
Source: Autosport