Hazelwood wins chaotic Super2 Race 2 in Townsville

Todd Hazelwood has swept Round 4 of the Dunlop Super2 Series in Townsville amid a race-stopping multi-car crash and a mess of a restart that followed.

Hazelwood, however, led all the way to take his first round win and also take over the series lead from Paul Dumbrell.

Anton de Pasquale persevered through a driveline vibration to finish second and Richard Muscat crossed the line third but will face scrutiny for his part in the restart incident which took out Dumbrell, among others.

Hazelwood made a clean getaway as de Pasquale (#67 ToolPro Paul Morris Motorsport Falcon) slotted into second.

Jack Le Brocq (#28 GoGetta MW Motorsport Altima) got under Dumbrell (#88 Burson Auto Parts Eggleston Commodore), who was held wide through Turn 2, to take third as Garry Jacobson narrowly escaped being sandwiched into the wall at both Turn 2 and Turn 3.

Hazelwood’s advantage in the #35 Bigmate Matt Stone Racing Commodore hovered around one second until the race came under Safety Car and was ultimately red flagged for a pile-up at Turn 3.

Will Brown had hit the wall on Lap 6 and sprung back off the tyre wall into the path of Josh Kean (#5 Wynns Prodrive Falcon), who crunched into the #38 Wilson MedicOne Eggleston Commodore.

Jake Kostecki (#56 Arcoplate Kostecki Brothers Commodore), Nathan Morcom (#54 Rondo Eggleston Commodore), Andrew Jones (#8 Alliance Truck Parts BJR Commodore), and Brodie Kostecki (#57 Sprint Cutting Matt Stone Racing Falcon) all similarly had nowhere to go and ran nose-to-tail into the crash, while Jack Smith (#21 SCT Logistics BJR Commodore) narrowly avoided a bigger hit when he skated into the incident.

All drivers removed themselves from their vehicles.

The time spent under suspension meant that 10 laps were lost, leaving just a single-lap dash to the chequered flag.

However, the field didn’t even make it that far before another melee when Muscat (#44 Wilson Security GRM Commodore) shunted Bryce Fullwood (#16 Middy’s MW Motorsport Altima) into the rear of Le Brocq, causing both Le Brocq and Dumbrell to spin.

A third MW Motorsport Altima was caught up in the prang when Shae Davies (#26 Loco) had nowhere to go and t-boned his team-mate Le Brocq.

Fullwood, who actually profited from the incident as he inherited fourth, then survived a hit under brakes from Kurt Kostecki (#55 Arcoplate Kostecki Brothers Racing Commodore) at Turn 2.

Hazelwood crossed the line for his second win as many days and fourth of the campaign.

“(I’m) Super stoked for the guys at Bigmate Racing and the team at Matt Stone Racing,” he said.

“We’ve been working really hard behind the scenes for the last couple of months since Phillip Island where we had a pretty tough round.

“There’s no better way of rebounding than with two race wins, a pole position and a round win.

Fullwood held fourth, which may become a second career podium by the time officials review the race.

The top 10 was rounded out by Kurt Kostecki, Jack Perkins (#4 Titan Tray Dragon Commodore), Adam Marjoram (#15 Auto One Matt Stone Racing Commodore), Davies, Mason Barbera (#99 Wilson Security GRM Commodore), and Renee Gracie (#98 Caltex Dragon Commodore).

Kurt Kostecki had started 16th after a two grid position penalty for impeding Perkins during qualifying.

Le Brocq finished 14th and Dumbrell 16th.

Non-finishers were all caught in the race-stopping crash except for Smith, and also Jacobson who pitted with damage to his #1 Mega Prodrive Falcon early on.

Hazelwood’s points lead over Dumbrell is 69 points, after entering the weekend 36 behind.

Round 5 will be held at the Red Rooster Sydney Super Sprint, when four races will be held from August 18-20.

UPDATE: Stewards have advised that the investigation into the restart incident at Turn 13 has been deferred to an unspecified time.

Results: Race 2, Round 4, Townsville

Championship Standings