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A penalty in Race 1 for allegedly blocking, fired up Hyundai i30N driver Bailey Sweeny to win the second race in the fifth round of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series at Sandown International Raceway.
Ironically, the penalty gave Sweeny a better starting position, which he quickly took advantage of. He grabbed the lead in the 21-lap event early and won by 2.5s. Runner up was Aaron Cameron, another who was penalised in the first race – this time for exceeding track limits. He brought his Peugeot 308 home ahead of Lachlan Mineeff (Audi RS3 LMS).
Jordan Cox (Peugeot) started brilliantly from the second row to grab the lead off pole-sitter Tom Oliphant (Lynk & Co) before Turn 1. But a touch from the latter through the corner enabled Oliphant to retake the lead, while Cox would succumb to Sweeny, Cameron and Mineeff in the next sequence of corners.
That was order at the end of the first lap with Kody Garland (Peugeot) sixth ahead of Josh Buchan (Hyundai Elantra), the Audis driven by Zac Soutar and Will Brown, Bargwanna (Peugeot), Race 1 winner Tony D’Alberto (Honda FK7), Michael Clemente (Audi) and Clay Richards (Peugeot) who went off at Turn 9 on the second lap.
Sweeny took the lead on Lap 2 as Oliphant was ambushed by his pursuers and dropped outside the top 10 in the ensuing laps. That improved the places of Cameron, Mineeff and Cox until the latter was caught and passed by the charging Brown.
But Brown’s fourth was short-lived when the Audi lost oil pressure . . . and oil, which forced him to retire to the pits. Cox finished fourth just ahead of a close finish between Buchan and Bargwanna while Soutar, in front of Oliphant, D’Alberto, Clemente, Garland, who dropped spots with a moment at Turn 9, Iain McDougall (Audi) and Richards.
