Touring Car Masters
Steven Johnson has won Race 2 before John Bowe hit back in Race 3 as the two dominated the final day of Touring Car Masters at the CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown.
Johnson got the launch from pole position, with ‘Mustang Sally’ and Bowe in a Holden Torana duly putting two seconds on the chasing pack on Lap 1 alone.
The 1995 Australian Touring Car Champion ran with Johnson but couldn’t get close enough to make a serious challenge for the lead in the 10-lap race.
Jason Gomersall (Holden Torana) finished nearly 13 seconds further back in third, having held off Bruce Williams and then Eddie Abelnica (XB Falcon).
Race 3 looked like following a similar pattern until Bowe got past at Turn 1 on Lap 7 and edged away to a 1.1s win.
Gomsersall ran third before he got a touch from Williams under brakes at Turn 5, which was enough to send the former well off into the grass.
Williams also ran wide as a result, allowing Abelnica to pick up both positions and go on to finish third.
Johnson won the round in the #17 WM Waste entry, but Bowe continues to lead the series ahead of Round 4 at Queensland Raceway on July 28-30.
Stadium Super Trucks
Paul Morris has taken his second race win of the weekend in Stadium Super Trucks at Hidden Valley Raceway.
Bill Hynes and then Greg Gartner led during Lap 1, before Morris outbraked the latter at Turn 1 at the start of Lap 2.
Jeff Hoffman was closing in on ‘The Dude’ when the first Competition Caution came on Lap 4, by which time Race 2 winner Matthew Brabham had moved up from seventh to third.
The front of the field remained unchanged until Brabham elbowed Hoffman wide at Turn 1 on Lap 8 and took over second position, just in time for the second Competition Caution.
Hoffman got Brabham back at the restart, and Robby Gordon soon passed both as Brabham attempted to fight back.
Brabham did get back in front of Hoffman on the penultimate lap when he got an excellent run over the jump and blazed past at Turn 11.
Hoffman had one more crack, getting into the side of #83 at Turn 1, but Brabham held his nerve.
At the very front, Gordon created a grandstand finish when he got a superior run off the pit entry chicane, making nose-to-tail contact with Morris before the final jump, but the former V8 Supercars driver held on to win by 0.1s.
Stadium Super Trucks now head north from Darwin to Beijing for their eighth event of the season on June 30-July 2.
Improved Production/Commodore Cup/HQ Holdens
Adam Uebergang has made it a clean sweep with another dominant victory in Race 3 of Improved Production.
Uebergang made a strong initial getaway but had to hold off Tim Playford into the first corner, before marching away to a lead that peaked over 10.2s after six laps.
The Queenslander ragged the Uebergang Transport Mazda RX3 over the final two laps, even sliding across the grass at Turn 10/Turn 11 on Lap 7, but still won easily (outright and Over 2L).
Playford picked up a trio of second placings while Bryce Fullwood was both third outright and Commodore Cup winner for the second race straight.
Peter Cusato swept the Under 2L class, finishing Race 3 in fourth, and Brett Osborn got a second win in HQ Holdens.
The next event is the NAMSC NT Titles on July 15.
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