Supercars Championship Preview: Tasmania Super 440 Race 15 Recap
- Tayla Purves
- May 23
- 2 min read
Updated: May 27
Photo Credit: Ash Bliss | Trackdown Media
Andre Heimgartner stood on top of the world for Race 15 Qualifying at Symmons Plains in Tasmania, marking a monumental milestone for Brad Jones Racing (BJR) by snapping a two-year drought without a Race win.
Joining him on the front row was Matthew Payne in the No.19 Mustang, just 0.0553 seconds behind.
Posing an immediate threat on the second row were championship front-runners Broc Feeney and Ryan Wood, setting the stage for a spectacular battle in Round 5 of the 2026 championship.
As it happened
Race 15 marked the 100th Australian Touring Car Championship/Supercars Race held at Symmons Plains Raceway, making it bound to be an event to remember.
Straight off the line, Heimgartner confidently converted his pole position into the Race lead, while commotion broke out further down the order. Zach Bates went spinning to the back of the pack after clashing with Kai Allen.
With 50 Laps to settle the score at the short Tasmanian circuit, the field bunched tightly together on the opening laps. Feeney made his presence known early on, aggressively chasing down the leading No.8 Toyota GR Supra.
The action temporarily stabilised before the mandatory pit window ignited fresh chaos. On Lap 14, Jayden Ojeda was sent spinning off track at Turn 6 by Chaz Mostert, which earned the Walkinshaw driver a costly 15-second time penalty.
Lap 20 saw a phenomenal pass by Brodie Kostecki, bringing his Mustang side-by-side with Wood through Turn 4. However, Kostecki’s afternoon fell apart on Lap 23 when David Reynolds locked up and slammed heavily into the rear of the No.17 machine. The collision caused massive rear-end bodywork damage, leaving Kostecki’s tyre rubbing against the bumper and triggering an immediate investigation.
Kostecki limped into the pitlane, where the Dick Johnson Racing crew worked frantically to clear the structural wreckage. He plummeted to the rear of the field, while Reynolds was slapped with a post-race 15-second time penalty for his role in the incident.
As the strategic pit stops cycled through, Payne attempted a sharp two-tyre stop to leapfrog the leaders. However, BJR's exceptional pit crew executed a flawless four-tyre exchange to retain Heimgartner’s net lead. Payne was left exposed to a charging Feeney, who capitalised on a side-draft down the back straight into Turn 6 to grab second place on Lap 35.
In the closing stages, Anton De Pasquale threw everything at the front-runners but locked up at the penultimate corner, sliding off the road and handing fourth place to Will Brown.
Up front, Heimgartner remained untouchable, commanding the race rhythm to guide BJR across the finish line for a historic victory. The breakthrough performance sealed a fairytale first win with Toyota for both driver and team.
The results
Andre Heimgartner
Broc Feeney
Matthew Payne
Will Brown
Anton De Pasquale
Kai Allen
Cam Waters
Ryan Wood
Cameron Hill
Thomas Randle
Jack Le Brocq
James Golding
Zach Bates
Jayden Ojeda
Aaron Cameron
Rylan Grey
David Reynolds
Cooper Murray
Macauley Jones
Chaz Mostert
Jackson Walls
Jobe Stewart
Declan Fraser
Brodie Kostecki
Racing returns on Sunday at 2:45 pm local time (AEST) for Race 16, effectively bringing Tasmania's weekend to a close.
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