2025 ITM Taupō Super 440 Tickford Racing Wrap-Up

Round 3 of the 2025 Supercars Championship saw Tickford Racing head to New Zealand for the for the 2025 ITM Taupō Super 440 with Race 8, 9, and 10 on the schedule. Cam Waters and Thomas Randle had the following to say to preview the weekend.

Cam Waters: “Taupō’s a cool track – it’s tight, technical, and has a lot of tyre deg. I’m excited to hit the track and go after some wins to try get the championship lead back.”

Thomas Randle: “I’m looking forward to getting back to Taupo, it’s awesome we get to race Supercars in front of the New Zealand fans! We struggled here as a team last year but have learnt a lot in the 12 months, so I’m ready to get stuck into it and give it a crack and see how we end up. A bit of excess baggage on the flight home would be nice!”

The Tickford duo started the weekend off with a pair of practice sessions. With both cars using a soft tyre compound, Waters would come out of the first session with the 13^th fastest time. Meanwhile, Randle’s best time in the session would put him right behind his stablemate at 14^th. The second practice session would see the team unlock more pace from both cars with Randle clocking an impressive 3^rd fastest lap and Waters claiming 10^th fastest.

Saturday would kick off with Race 8 Qualifying on category soft tyres. Waters progressed into the second phase of the session, whilst Randle would miss out and claim a P12 qualifying result. Waters would ultimately qualify in P3 in the second phase of the session for the first race of the weekend.

Race 9 Qualifying would take place with the field on the new super soft tyre compound. The session would see the Tickford duo make their way into the second phase. Despite some timing system disruptions, Waters would end the session with a P6 quali result and Randle with a P10 result.

Race 8 would prove a solid outing for Waters after a strong start. After an early safety car, Waters would maintain position thanks to good strategy and clean driving across 60 laps of racing, ultimately taking him to a spot on the podium with a P2 finish. Meanwhile, Randle would experience a more challenging outing thanks to a 15-second penalty and a spin that saw him return to the track in last place. He would end the race in P20, but would later be demoted to P22.

Randle would turn things around in Race 9, taking advantage of a strong start and fighting hard through the field to a P6 finish to cap off the day. Things would turn around for Waters in the other direction after being forced wide on Turn 1 in the early stages of the race. This would see him lose several positions, ultimately ending the day with a P14 finish after slipping further back into the field during the race. 

Sunday’s festivities would kick away with a three-part qualifying session for Race 10. Waters and Randle would end the first session with respective 11^th and 7^th fastest lap times, earning them both spots in the second session. Waters would ultimately miss out on the Top 10 shootout after running deep into Turn 11, ultimately earning himself a P18 quali result. Meanwhile, Randle would secure his place in the Top 10 Shootout after a strong showing in the second session.

The Top 10 Shootout would see Randle briefly hold the top spot before track conditions improved for the rest of the field. This would see him ultimately claim a P5 start on the grid for the weekend’s final race.

Both drivers would enjoy a clean start to Race 10 with Randle making good progress in the outing’s early stages. However, a mishap during his second pit stop would see him lose that progress, ultimately ending the race in P5. Meanwhile, Waters would fight hard to claim position, at one point finding himself just outside of the Top 10. However, a delay in his second pit stop thanks to an issue with the front-right wheel gun would see some of that progress undone, ultimately capping the day off for Waters with a P12 race result.