Hazelwood faced tough competition from GRM pair James Golding and Jordan Cox, even being passed by the latter at Murray’s Corner at the end of Lap 1.
However, the reigning champion pushed through after the safety car restart, getting past Cox, who was compromised attempting to overtake Golding.
A supreme run out of Forrest’s Elbow on the same lap for the lead was enough to see the #1 take top honours.
Under a rolling start all drivers got away cleanly, and it was Cox who was keen to make up further positions from fifth on the grid.
The #33 ended up three wide with Nathan Herne and Elliot Barbour, with Barbour’s Chevrolet Camaro ending up in the gravel as he tumbled down the order to 15th.
Cox made it all the way to second by the time the first safety car was called on Lap 2 due to numerous incidents.
Ben Grice, who sits second in the Trans Am championship and TA2 championship leader Jarrod Hughes came together at Hell Corner and were both sent spinning.
Meanwhile, Charlie Nash suffered a tyre blowout at Murray’s Corner, while Charlie Hoy went backwards into the wall and parked up at the Elbow.
Twenty two minutes remained when the safety car peeled back into the pits. Carnage promptly ensued again as Des Collier crashed along the top of the hill, causing oil to spill onto the track.
That caught a lot of drivers out, including Cox who made contact twice with the wall before having to retire with 19 minutes remaining.
Adam Garwood, who was running in fifth, was also put out of contention, spinning between Skyline and The Dipper. Tom Davies, who was running third in the championship prior to this weekend, saw his nightmare weekend continue, also crashing out alongside Lachlan Evennett and the Camaro of Mark Bailey.
Race Control determined the clean-up would take too long and with 10 minutes remaining the red flag was waved to call Race 2.
Hazelwood extended his championship lead with the victory while second went to Herne, who was fifth in the championship prior to the Bathurst weekend.
Rookie Blake Tracey, who was feeling unwell before the race and spent a stint in the medical centre before being cleared to race, fought hard to climb the podium with an astounding third place.
James Moffat, after his Saturday contact with Nash Morris, started 16th but survived in the pack to rebound to fourth on the road.
Golding, after taking the victory yesterday, couldn’t hold position and lost out after the safety car to finish fifth.
Both the #97 Mustang of Ben Bargwanna and the #100 of Barbour climbed positions after poor starts to claim points in sixth and seventh respectively.
TA2 series reigning champion Josh Haynes finished eighth after starting down in 18th. In the TFH Hire TA2 series, victory went to Ben Gomersall (ninth outright) with Joshua Thomas (10th) and #118 Jarrod Hughes (11th) rounding out the podium.
Discussion about this post