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Bargwanna was edged out at the start by reigning champion Josh Buchan in his Hyundai i30N, but aggressively regain the lead at Turn 10 before the first lap expired. Buchan shadow him for a dozen laps before Bargwanna was able to pull clear.
Zac Soutar (Audi RS3 LMS) was third through the opening lap before he lost out to Aaron Cameron (Peugeot) and Tony D’Alberto (Honda Civic FL5). Cameron maintained second for three quarters of the race, but his pace suffered with a loss of battery voltage and the electric power steering.
D’Alberto took the minor podium place, 1.0s ahead Soutar while Jordan Cox (Peugeot) picked up 10 places from his rear-of-grid start to take fifth. He headed home Brad Harris (Honda), Ryan Casha (Peugeot), Clay Richards (Cupra Leon) and Dylan O’Keeffe (Lynk & Co).
The fight for tenth and who would start from pole in the reverse grid Race 2 went down to the wire. It was between John Martin (Honda) who subbed for an injured Will Harris, and Brit Tom Oliphant (Hyundai). They had a bruising battle before Martin came out ahead.
Marcus LaDelle (Audi) was next from a struggling Cameron, and Soutar’s teammate Indonesian Glenn Nirwan who had a troubled debut. Iain McDougall (Audi) was the only retirement, due to steering damage from contact with Nirwan.
There was a change to the qualifying format with just the six fastest from the first qualifying session to the second. Cox would miss both as his Peugeot had a drive issue and didn’t leave the pits.
Bargwanna, Buchan, D’Alberto, Casha, Soutar and Cameron would progress while Richards and just missed out. In Qualifying 2 Buchan went to the top and would start Race 1 from pole with Soutar alongside. Bargwanna and Casha would share the second row ahead of D’Alberto and Cameron.
