Herne held the lead into Turn 1 at the race start and never looked back, building a lead of 2.5s in the opening laps.
The race leader’s fastest lap was just 0.15s slower than lap record pace.
Ben Gomersall very nearly found the wall on the run to Reid Park on Lap 1, almost taking Jack Smith with him.
Hazelwood came home for another second position with his new team ahead of James Moffat.
James Golding had two wheels in the grass on the run up Mountain Straight on the opening lap, and was muscled out of the way entering The Cutting by Jarrod Hughes.
Hughes finished fourth while Golding rounded out the top five.
Ben Bargwanna continued a solid weekend in sixth position ahead of Smith and Blake Tracey.
Elliot Barbour and Tom Davies again placed in the top 10.
Battles in the mid pack were close between Harrison Sellars and Pip Casabene, and also Brock Paine and Clay Richards.
Cody Brewczynski made contact with Davies at the final corner with one lap remaining, sending Davies through the grass, bringing a large amount of dirt onto the circuit.
Trans Am returns for its third and final race on Sunday at 10:00am AEST.
Aussie Racing Cars
V8 SuperUtes regular Rossi Johnson took victory on debut in the opening Aussie Racing Cars race of the weekend.
Johnson held his own against Kody Garland, passing the reigning champion at The Chase on the opening lap.
Simultaneously, Chad Chapman found the wall at Forrest’s Elbow, drawing the first and only safety car of the race.
The restart set up a two lap dash to the finish.
Scott Andriske and Garland made contact in a battle for second position, but both drivers were able to continue.
Diesel Thomas shot through from sixth on the grid to take the lead by Turn 2, and win Race 2 comfortably.
Having built a lead of over seven seconds, Thomas cruised home to beat Andriske by 1.35s at the line.
Jack Boyd carved back through the field after a tough Race 1 to finish third.
Ayrton Hodson and Oscar Pedersen came together at the final corner on the last lap, each winding up in the gravel trap and recording a DNF.
Andriske battled to take the victory in Race 3 over a hard charging Boyd and Anthony Di Mauro.
The three swapped the lead back and forth across the entire race distance, shortened due to Thomas stopping on the formation lap.
Aussie Racing Cars return for the final of four races on Sunday at 9:25am AEST.
Super TT
Charlie Khoury took the outright victory in the opening Super TT race of the weekend after a lengthy battle with David Calabria for the lead.
Harrison Cooper started on pole position in the Hyundai i30 N TCR, but was outpaced on the opening lap by the superior speed of Calabria’s Mitsubishi Evo.
Khoury took the lead from Calabria at the opportune moment.
Graeme Draper’s Mini suffered an engine fire and came to a halt at Griffins Bend, drawing the race-ending safety car.
Cooper hit back to take victory in Race 2, capitalising on mechanical issues for front-runners Calabria and Khoury.
Leading home a TCR 1-2-3, Cooper brought the Hyundai across the line ahead of Will and Brad Harris under yellow flag conditions.
Myles Jones was hit from behind by Glenn Townsend and found the wall on the run to Reid Park on the final lap.
Jones emerged from the damaged Civic under his own power.
Cooper won the third and final race of the weekend in Race 3, leading home Will Harris for a TCR 1-2.
Brad Harris did not start the race with a mechanical issue in the other Honda Civic TCR.
The race commenced with a safety car restart after Glenn Townsend stopped on the formation lap with suspension damage.
Cooper led the field to the restart and never looked back.
Circuit Excel Racing Association
Race 1 was stopped before a lap was completed due to a multi-car crash at Turn 2.
The race was declared and no points were awarded.
Several cars did not start Race 2 following the earlier incident – Ayce Buckley, Tyler Howard, Aleeanz Voltz, Jake Burton, and Aydin Karadagli.
Tyce Hodge took the win in Race 2 following a close battle with Zane Rhodes.
Rhodes took the lead at the first corner with a decisive move.
The pair swapped positions several times throughout the race, before coming together at The Chase on the final lap.
Rhodes helped Hodge off the track, and slowed allowing the leader back onto the road after skating through the grass.
Hodge took the win by just 0.1609s.
Circuit Excels return for a third and final race on Sunday at 8:25am AEST.
Saloon Car Nationals
Brad Vaughan took the win in the opening Saloon Car race of the weekend.
The Super2 star was troubled mid-way up Mountain Straight on the opening lap by Scott Dornan, but held off the charging Aussie Racing Cars regular to hold the lead.
Front row starter Kane Baxter-Smith went backwards off the line, ending up in fifth position behind Jackson Callo and Brandon Madden.
The race ended under the control of the safety car due to an incident at the bottom of The Chase.
Vince Ciallella was helped off the road and found the wall, with his Commodore coming to rest in the gravel.
Race 2 was ended prematurely due to a multi-car incident at the top of the mountain.
Chris Kneafsey’s Falcon suffered a mechanical failure, dumping a large amount of fluid on the track surface.
Several competitors were caught out, ending up in the gravel trap at McPhillamy Park.
Super2 regular Brad Vaughan was in the lead at the time.
The Saloon Car Nationals return for a final race at 7:15am AEST on Sunday.
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