Frightening rollover causes early end to Super2 Race 2

McLeod tangled with Cooper Murray as they sped up the back straight and he spun into the Wanneroo Raceway infield.

His #92 ZB Commodore dug into the grass on drivers’ right and tripped over, going through a wild pirouette in the air before eventually coming to rest in an upright position.

McLeod was seen walking to the Medical Car, although in apparent discomfort.

Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Zach Bates has been declared the race winner, with the classification backdated to Lap 13.

The incident started when Aaron Cameron went down the inside of McLeod in an overtake for fourth position at Kolb Corner (Turn 6) on Lap 16.

Cooper Murray then got a run on the #92 ZB Commodore exiting that sweeping right-hander.

McLeod moved over to his right in an apparent attempt to cover the #88 ZB Commodore but there was overlap between the two cars.

The RM Racing Cars entry went across the nose of the Eggleston Motorsport car and looked to be already starting to roll as it reached the grass.

It eventually came to a stop on the side of the track, further down the hill.

As it did, Race Control called the red flag which ultimately brought an end to proceedings, with only three minutes left on the clock in a time-certain race of 38 minutes plus one lap.

The incident occurred on the lap on which the race restarted after the first red flag, caused when Mason Kelly’s car caught fire due to a major engine failure.

Earlier in the day, Brad Vaughan had qualified on the front row but the #5 Tickford Racing S550 rolled across the front of his grid box during the start sequence.

He led the field into the first corner but, unsurprisingly, was soon pinged with a five-second penalty for a false start.

That left fellow front-row starter Bates (#25 Walkinshaw Andretti United ZB Commodore) as the effective leader given he ran in second place, from Max Vidau (#17 Anderson Motorsport S550 Mustang), McLeod, and Kelly (#22 Kelly Racing S550 Mustang).

Series leader Kai Allen (#1 Eggleston Motorsport ZB Commodore) had only qualified 13th and held position through the opening laps, before going past Jarrod Hughes (#118 Image Racing ZB Commodore) on Lap 6.

Up the front, Bates was tailing Vaughan with the knowledge that the Tickford driver had been penalised, but he also had Vidau right behind him and McLeod less than a second further back.

A Safety Car was called on Lap 9 when Kelly’s car caught fire, dropping oil which caused several others to run off at Kolb Corner.

Fortunately, he was able to pull off at a fire marshal post on the exit of the corner and was quickly out of the vehicle, with the Safety Car upgraded to a red flag to clean up the track.

After around 15 minutes under red flag, the Safety Car led the field back around Wanneroo Raceway for two laps, with Vaughan leading from Bates, Vidau, McLeod, and Cameron (#27 Kelly S550 Mustang).

Murray was sixth after a bumping duel just prior to the Safety Car with Eggleston team-mate Jordyn Sinni (#54 ZB Commodore), while Allen had risen from 12th to ninth in the chaos caused by the #22 engine failure.

The green flag flew again at the start of Lap 16, with just over four minutes left on the clock.

Vaughan had missed the apex at Turn 7 on his way to the green flag but held onto the on-road lead, although that proved a moot point.

The official classification is Bates the winner from Vidau, McLeod reinstated to third given the backdating, Vaughan fourth with the five seconds added, and Cameron fifth.

Murray is sixth, from Sinni, Jobe Stewart (#99 Erebus Academy ZB Commodore), Allen, and Cameron Crick (#38 Eggleston ZB Commodore) rounding out the top 10.

Allen, who had been unbeaten until today, leads the series by a reduced, 54-point margin over Cameron, with Bates 24 points further back in third.

Round 3 of the 2024 Super2 Series supports the NTI Townsville 500 on July 5-7.

Results: Race 2

Series points: Super2