Mawson on brink of Gold Star as Ngatoa wins S5000 Heat 2

Joey Mawson is on the brink of winning the 2021 VHT S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship as Kaleb Ngatoa took out Heat 2 at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Mawson’s lead in the standings over BRM team-mate Thomas Randle is a slightly reduced 48 points, but there are now only 60 on offer in the single race which remains this season.

Tim Macrow also kept himself mathematically in the fight for the Gold Star by finishing second to Ngatoa, with Randle third, from James Golding and Mawson.

Ngatoa (Team BRM) inherited first position on the starting grid by virtue of the standard Heat 2 inversion and headed the field into Moffat Corner (Turn 1).

Fellow front row starter Ricky Capo (Modena Engineering) was slow to get away, meaning Randle took up second and Macrow (Tim Macrow Racing) third, while Golding (Garry Rogers Motorsport) launched all the way from seventh to fourth.

Randle ceded second when he ran wide at Bond Bend (Turn 2), perhaps caught out by a still dirty track surface following an earlier oil spill, while Nathan Herne (GRM) went down the inside of Luis Leeds (GRM) at Turn 4 to take sixth.

As such, the running order was Ngatoa, Macrow, Randle, Golding, Capo, Herne, Leeds, and Mawson, although Capo soon slipped back.

The New Zealander at the head of the field moved his advantage beyond a second for the first time on Lap 7 and would go on to win the 14-lapper by 2.2597s.

Macrow ran in second spot all the way from the second corner to the chequered flag, and Randle similarly held third for the bulk of the contest.

Mawson ran sixth for some time before he scrounged an extra two championship points by passing Herne for fifth on the final lap.

Behind Herne, seventh through 10th at the end was Leeds, Cooper Webster (88 Racing), Braydan Willmington (Willmington Racing), and Capo.

The final race of the 2021 season takes place tomorrow from 12:10 local time/AEST at the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships.

Results: Heat 2