Tim Macrow is the early leader of the Australian Drivers’ Championship after winning Race 3 of Round 1 of S5000 at Symmons Plains.

Macrow led all 24 laps while 2021 Gold Star champion Joey Mawson salvaged fourth position in a Team BRM entry which was hastily put back together after he was taken out by team-mate Tim Slade in Race 2.

Slade was a DNF in the latest affair, having run in third until he stopped on the side of the track with a drivetrain failure on Lap 20.

James Golding had started from first position by virtue of cumulative points but Macrow got the jump on him from the other side of the front row and headed the field to the braking zone at Turn 2.

Golding slotted into second initially but dropped to the back of the nine-car field when he hit oil dry which had been laid down due to an incident in the preceding session and ran long at the Hairpin.

Macrow was thus relieved of pressure from behind, at least for the time being, while Cooper Webster was promoted to second position, Slade to third, Race 2 winner Josh Fife to fourth, and Mawson to fifth.

The gap between first and second spot was quickly beyond a full second, before Webster pared it back to less than half a second on Lap 12.

That was about as close as he got, however, with the top two unchanged for the balance of the contest.

Webster took the chequered flag 0.7912s in arrears, with Fife home in third, Mawson fourth, and Golding getting back to fifth.

Blake Purdie was sixth and Kaleb Ngatoa ended up last finisher in seventh, while Adam Garwood joined Slade as a retirement.

Round 2 takes place at Phillip Island as part of the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships on March 18-20, with live streaming on Stan Sport.

Results: Race 3