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
| Pos | Num | Team/Sponsor | Driver | Car | Cls | Laps | Race time |
| 1 | 78 | Best Leisure Industries | Zak Best | Ford Falcon FG/X | S2 | 11 | 47:16.8183 |
| 2 | 27 | Blue Ribbon Legal / MWM | Tyler Everingham | Nissan Altima | S2 | 11 | 47:17.5622 |
| 3 | 10 | Grove Racing | Matthew Payne | Nissan Altima | S2 | 11 | 47:18.2445 |
| 4 | 111 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Cameron Hill | Holden Commodore VF | S2 | 11 | 47:18.7889 |
| 5 | 777 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Declan Fraser | Holden Commodore VF | S2 | 11 | 47:19.3420 |
| 6 | 49 | CGI TMA Hire | Jay Hanson | Holden Commodore VF | S2 | 11 | 47:19.8384 |
| 7 | 54 | Eggleston Motorsport | Matthew McLean | Holden Commodore VF | S2 | 11 | 47:20.4656 |
| 8 | 38 | Eggleston Motorsport | Cameron Crick | Holden Commodore VF | S2 | 11 | 47:20.8951 |
| 9 | 30 | Sherrin Rentals | Aaron Seton | Holden Commodore VF | S2 | 11 | 47:22.0698 |
| 10 | 3 | SPITWATER / MWM | Thomas Maxwell | Nissan Altima | S2 | 11 | 47:22.8968 |
| 11 | 26 | Eggleston Motorsport | Kai Allen | Holden Commodore VE | CH | 11 | 47:25.1157 |
| 12 | 58 | EFS 4×4 Accessories | Ryal Harris | Holden Commodore VF | S2 | 11 | 47:26.2296 |
| 13 | 11 | Brema Group Racing | Zane Morse | Holden Commodore VF | S2 | 11 | 47:27.4021 |
| 14 | 999 | Bushwakka / Rare Spares | Reef McCarthy | Holden Commodore VF | S2 | 11 | 47:29.1279 |
| 15 | 5 | Anderson Motorsport | Brad Vaughan | Ford Falcon FG | CH | 11 | 47:29.5606 |
| 16 | 67 | Flash Bush Motorsports | Nash Morris | Ford Falcon FG/X | S2 | 11 | 47:32.0629 |
| 17 | 8 | Steeline Racing | Elly Morrow | Holden Commodore VF | S2 | 11 | 47:33.6056 |
| 18 | 35 | Unit Racing | Jason Gomersall | Ford Falcon FG | SC3 | 11 | 47:35.1515 |
| 19 | 7 | Mocomm Motorsport Comms | Jim Pollicina | Holden Commodore VE | SC3 | 11 | 47:35.7802 |
| 20 | 24 | Eggleston Motorsport | David Murphy | Ford Falcon FG | SC3 | 11 | 47:38.6610 |
| 21 | 4 | Crusher Parts International | Tony Auddino | Ford Falcon BF | SC3 | 11 | 47:42.8518 |
| 22 | 76 | STAGGER Men’s Health Online | Garry Hills | Holden Commodore VE2 | SC3 | 11 | 47:45.3777 |
| 23 | 2 | Page Bros Jayco | Steven Page | Holden Commodore VE2 | SC3 | 11 | 47:47.7744 |
| 24 | 25 | Weldcraft Motorsport | Paul Boschert | Holden Commodore VE | SC3 | 11 | 47:48.7686 |
| 25 | 219 | Masterton Motorsport | James Masterton | Holden Commodore VE | SC3 | 11 | 47:50.4006 |
| 26 | 23 | RHM / Nulon | Ray Hislop | Ford Falcon BA | SC3 | 11 | 47:52.6231 |
| NC | 6 | aginic / MWM | Angelo Mouzouris | Nissan Altima | S2 | 4 | 15:23.8969 |
| NC | 46 | Turbo Brisbane | Jarred Danaher | Ford Falcon FG | SC3 | 2 | 10:19.6984 |
Classes: S2 Super2, CH Super3 Championship, SC3 Super3 Cup, HC Super3 Heritage Class
Series points: Super2
| Pos | Driver | Pts |
| 1 | Declan Fraser | 1083 |
| 2 | Zak Best | 1008 |
| 3 | Matthew Payne | 951 |
| 4 | Cameron Hill | 918 |
| 5 | Tyler Everingham | 912 |
| 6 | Aaron Seton | 780 |
| 7 | Matthew Chahda | 741 |
| 8 | Thomas Maxwell | 735 |
| 9 | Jay Hanson | 696 |
| 10 | Zane Morse | 675 |
| 11 | Jaylyn Robotham | 669 |
| 12 | Cameron Crick | 624 |
| 13 | Elly Morrow | 567 |
| 14 | Ryal Harris | 534 |
| 15 | Matthew McLean | 531 |
| 16 | Angelo Mouzouris | 459 |
| 17 | Nash Morris | 270 |
| 18 | Dean Fiore | 240 |
| 19 | Jack Perkins | 210 |
| 20 | Tim Blanchard | 180 |
| 21 | Reef McCarthy | 66 |
Series points: Super3
| Pos | Driver | Pts |
| 1 | Kai Allen | 1254 |
| 2 | Brad Vaughan | 1188 |
| 3 | Jim Pollicina | 984 |
| 4 | Blake Fardell | 939 |
| 5 | Chris Smerdon | 813 |
| 6 | Garry Hills | 732 |
| 7 | Steven Page | 720 |
| 8 | Jason Gomersall | 699 |
| 9 | Tony Auddino | 663 |
| 10 | Ray Hislop | 648 |
| 11 | Jarred Danaher | 414 |
| 12 | James Masterton | 318 |
| 13 | Jordan Michels | 204 |
| 14 | Layton Barker | 168 |
| 15 | Jason Foley | 162 |
| 16 | Paul Boschert | 162 |
| 17 | Shane Beikoff | 144 |
| 18 | David Murphy | 111 |
| 19 | Brendan Strong | 111 |
| 20 | Gary Collins | 0 |
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