Joel Heinrich won the first race of the Battery World Aussie Racing Cars Super Series at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, snatching the lead off pole-sitter Josh Anderson.
Reigning champion Anderson was able to stick with Heinrich but could not mount any challenge to the South Australian driver, having to settle for second place.
Anderson started off pole position and made a perfect getaway to beat Heinrich into Turn 1.
Brandon Madden was swamped from third on the grid after a slow start for the #57 Camaro driver, falling to seventh place at the start of Lap 2.
Current series leader Heinrich mounted a challenge on Anderson, threatening at Turn 1 on Lap 3 but couldn’t pull off the move. Yet he maintained the pressure and took the lead with a run down the inside at Turn 5 and remained in front for the rest of the 11-lap race.
It was relatively clean for the weekend’s first outing as drivers conserved their tyres and cars for the other two races of the day.
There were still solid battles, with contact between Jeff Watters with Andrew Lorgelly at the first turn on Lap 7.
Watters spun around and suffered significant front-end damage, with the resulting crumpled bonnet obstructing his view as he made an attempt to continue before parking on the grass on the exit of Turn 5.
While Lorgelly in the #7 Euro GT was able to keep driving and finished in 22nd place, Watters was handed a 15-second post-race penalty due to the incident, but that ultimately made no difference given he was a non-finisher.
Heinrich easily took the chequered flag first as Anderson and Cody Brewczynksi filled the podium, ahead of Anthony DiMauro in fourth.
Madden, in a solid recovery drive after that poor start, passed Reece Chapman at the final corner on the penultimate lap to finish fifth.
Race 2 of the Battery World Aussie Racing Cars Super Series will be today at 10:55 local time/11:25 AEST.
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