Best wins as Bathurst fog causes early finish to Super2 Race 1

Tickford Racing’s Zak Best has won Race 1 of Round 5 of the Dunlop Super2 Series at Bathurst in a contest which ended early due to fog on the Mountain.

What was to have been an 18-lapper started under Safety Car due to rain and standing water around Mount Panorama and barely more than two laps had been run under green flags before Angelo Mouzouris crashed at Griffins Bend.

The field trundled around under Safety Car again until the chequered flag was flown at the end of Lap 11, meaning full points will be awarded.

Best (#78 FGX Falcon) therefore closes in on Declan Fraser’s series lead by scooping the 150 points, with Tyler Everingham (#27 MW Motorsport Nissan Altima) classified second and Matt Payne (#10 Grove Racing Nissan Altima) rounding out the podium.

Cameron Hill (#111 VF Commodore) finished fourth ahead of Triple Eight Race Engineering team-mate Fraser (#777 VF Commodore), then Jay Hanson (#49 Image Racing VF Commodore), Matt McLean (#54 Eggleston Motorsport VF Commodore), Cameron Crick (#38 Eggleston VF Commodore), Aaron Seton (#30 Matt Stone Racing VF Commodore), and Thomas Maxwell (#3 MWM Nissan Altima), with Kai Allen (#26 Eggleston VE Commodore) winning the Super3 class in 11th outright.

Best had earned pole position despite a late crash in qualifying and the Racing driver was finally given control of the field at the end of Lap 2.

He waited until the exit of Murray’s Corner before accelerating away in the #78 FGX Falcon, and led by more than a full second by the time they reached the end of the first sector.

Everingham, Hill, Payne, and Fraser ran as you were in second through fifth, while Mouzouris passed McLean for sixth by the time they reached The Chase.

As Everingham caught up to Best, Mouzouris was looking quick, and he rounded up Fraser for fifth at Murray’s on Lap 4.

His race would last just two corners more, with the 2019 Australian Formula Ford title winner burying his #6 Nissan Altima right under the tyre barriers at Griffins Bend.

A Safety Car was thus called, with Best leading Everingham and Payne, who had passed a very wide-running Hill just ahead of the Mouzouris crash.

While the resetting of the barriers took time, the bigger concern became the fog which rolled in through Sulman Park and McPhillamy Park.

It caused visibility to deteriorate and officials would eventually decide there would be no restart, with Fraser’s series lead over Best cut to to 75 points.

Qualifying for Race 2 starts tomorrow morning at 08:50 local time/AEDT.

Results: Race 1

Classes: S2 Super2, CH Super3 Championship, SC3 Super3 Cup, HC Super3 Heritage Class

Series points: Super2

Series points: Super3