Dalton recovers to dominate frantic Sydney Super2 closer

Tickford Autosport’s Ben Gomersall got a good escape from second and left Dalton to defend from the other Tickford Autosport car of Reuben Goodall.

Goodall briefly got ahead of Dalton only for the #43 Blanchard Racing Team Mustang to sweep back around the outside exiting Turn 1.

Dalton wasted little time behind Gomersall, and within the first few laps had resumed the lead of the race and never relinquished it.

“It was so hot,” said Dalton post-race.

“The car got very hot. Once I bottled up that start, I was like ‘Oh, this is going to be a long race’.

“We pushed on from there and got Benny out of the way and just pressed on and did our own thing.”

It was an action-packed race, relative to Saturday’s opener, which was won by Brad Jones Racing driver Brad Vaughan.

Anderson Motorsport’s Ryan Tomsett went off at the second turn on the second lap after side-to-side contact with Blanchard Racing Team returnee Bailey Sweeny.

The Anderson Mustang went through the gravel and swiped the tyre barrier. Tomsett fell to the rear of the field but went on to finish 12th.

Dalton looked to retake the lead at the final corner in the first few laps, but Gomersall defended hard, and the pair made nose-to-tail contact. It wasn’t long later that Dalton got the job done, however.

An awkward clash between Alice Buckley and Eggleston Motorsport’s Jordyn Sinni left the former’s family-run Holden ZB Commodore with damage. Buckley drove into the gravel trap at Turn 2, seemingly unable to steer.

At the same time, Sweeny went three-wide with Matt Hillyer and Campbell Logan. Hillyer crowded his former Walkinshaw Andretti United teammate on the front straight and nearly put Logan into the grass. Before their battle reached feverpitch, the Safety Car was called.

The race resumed with just under 20 minutes to go. On the restart, there were similar scenes to Saturday night’s Supercars race when Dalton elected not to launch immediately out of the final corner. That stacked up the field, and several cars created an overlap.

Morris was one of them, and passed Goodall into Turn 1. For that, Morris was given a five-second penalty.

It was a quiet conclusion to the race as Dalton put nearly two seconds on Morris, who passed Gomersall in the closing minutes.

On corrected order, Gomersall was second and Morris third with the penalty applied. Goodall fell shy of the podium in fourth while Brad Vaughan rose from ninth to fifth.

The Dunlop Super2 Series takes a big break before returning at the Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway on June 19-21.

Results: Dunlop Super2 Series Dunlop Sydney 500, Race 2