Steven Johnson has driven his #33 Hancock Racing Ford Mustang to victory in the Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters Series Trophy Race at the Supercheap Bathurst International. Ryan Hansford was second in his Holden Torana with George Miedecke in third place.
Off the start, P2 starter Tony Karanfilovski in his Ford Mustang had a better run towards Hell Corner from Hansford, but the Torana kept ahead up Mountain Straight courtesy of the inside line from pole position. It was Steven Johnson who’d started from third who stormed past Karanfilovski, green lights ablaze, to swarm the rear bumper of Hansford’s Holden Torana.
A race-long battle ensued between the pair, Johnson putting the nose up the inside for a look at The Cutting before making the pass down Conrod Straight to lead the field at the completion of Lap 1.
Meanwhile, George Miedecke made impressive progress in the early stages after starting 14th, taking Poillicina at Griffins Bend for seventh and grabbing sixth place off Adams down Conrod on Lap 2.
While Johnson’s pass on Hansford looked easy, the Mustang wasn’t pulling away with the Torana lingering only 0.6s behind. By Lap 5, the gap was only 0.8s between the pair as they gapped the field to be more than 21s ahead of third place, Danny Buzadzic’s Torana A9X.
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Jamie Tilley and Andrew Fisher almost came to blows as the filed completed Lap 4, after Tilley’s Valiant nearly speared Fisher’s Torana coming out of Murray’s Corner.
The following lap, Hansford closed in on Johnson’s Mustang, hounding him down Conrod to force a defensive line from the #33 into the Chase, with the pressure continuing through Murray’s and Hell Corners before Johnson established a minor advantage up Mountain Straight.
The lead pair was well and truly in a race of their own, the gap back to third-place, now George Miedecke, 22s and growing.
Further back in the pack, John Bowe passed Andrew Fisher to crack the Top 10, while Brad Tilley’s Ford Falcon XY GT-HO began blowing smoke from its side pipes.
Up front, it looked like Hansford had the pace to take the win from Johnson, but his challenge was over once Bressington spun off at Hell Corner after a massive lock-up on Pit Straight saw his Camaro end up beached in the gravel trap.
With five laps completed, the race ended under the Safety Car to retrieve the Camaro, the race going time-certain to see Johnson win from Hansford and a superb comeback drive from Miedecke in third.
The Touring Car Masters will be back on track at Mount Panorama at 17:00 AEDT this afternoon, with Andrew Fisher having qualified on pole position for the race.
“We have enjoyed a fantastic growth year in 2022, culminating in a 45-strong field here at the Bathurst International for our season finale, and we can’t wait to see what we can achieve in 2023,” Williams said.
Coverage of this weekend’s event is live and ad-free on Stan Sport.
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