Adam Beechey has taken his second consecutive Commodore Cup National Series crown by finishing second to title rival Matt Hayes in Phillip Island’s season finale.
Having been passed by Hayes at Honda Corner on Lap 2, Beechey sat on the tail of the San Marco VS for the remaining laps, content in the knowledge that a second place finish would be more than enough to secure the crown.
The finishing order was a reversal of Race 2, where Beechey led home Hayes after trading the lead with Jordan Symes in the early laps.
The reverse grid affair was the subject of a lengthy hearing after the day’s racing was complete, with all questions raised regarding a potential Safety Car infringement from Beechey eventually dismissed.
“To be honest I came into this round a bit down after Sandown, and I pretty much came here thinking second will do,” said Beechey after Race 3.
“We did what we had to do in Race 1, we didn’t need to race Marcus we just needed to stay in front of Hayesy.
“We always love the reverse grid race, we managed to pass half the field there, and in Race 3 we just did what we had to do again.
“The first one (title) was good because I really wanted it, but I had a bit of a lead so I half expected it.
“But this one, having a stewards hearing for half an hour after the issues we had in Race 2 with (alleged) passing under yellow…
“It’s obviously taken the edge off it, but now we can really let our hair down tonight with the crew and have a few beers.”
Race 1 winner Marcus Zukanovic saw his weekend come unstuck with mechanical issues in Race 2. The 2006 series winner fought through from the back of the field to take third in the finale.
Race 2 was also bad news for Anthony Tancredi, who badly damaged his entry after coming off worst in a scrap with Hayes and Jeff Watters.
The Australian Saloon Car Series also completed its final round at Phillip Island, with Andrew Nowland emerging with the overall victory after scoring two wins and a second place finish.
Tim Rowse prevented Nowland from sweeping the weekend, with the reigning series winner leading every lap of Race 3 to take a comfortable victory.
Sam Milton, Lindsay Kearns and Luke Westall rounded out the top five for the weekend.
Matt Lovell, who sealed the 2011 title prior to Phillip Island, scored top three finishes in the opening two races before falling off the road at Turn 12 while c0ntending for the win in Race 3.
Having amassed 919 points across the season, Lovell ended the year with an enormous margin over second placed Mark Primmer (591), while Geoff Brown (581), Tony Evangelou (504) and Ian Chivas (492) rounded out the top five.
