Thompson extends Fujitsu Series winning streak

Andrew Thompson has led home David Russell in Race 2 of the Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series at Mount Panorama.

Russell showed the way in the early laps after getting the jump on his Holden rival and aggressively chopping to the inside line entering Hell Corner – resulting in minor contact between the pair.

Thompson survived a further touch with Nick Percat on the exit of the first turn, before eventually taking the lead on Lap 6.

Russell kept the Monster backed Commodore in site to finish second, ahead of Jack Perkins and Paul Morris – with the top four covered by just 2.64s.

Scott McLaughlin and Tim Blanchard rounded out the top six, with the latter dropping outside the top 15 on the opening lap due to stalling at the start and then going off at The Chase.

Percat also fought his way back through the field after a troubled start, the Coates Hire Commodore finishing behind Chaz Mostert in eighth place.

The race was punctuated by two Safety Car periods, the first of which appeared courtesy of some opening lap mayhem at The Chase which left Todd Fiore stranded in the gravel trap.

Just two more laps of racing occurred after the restart before Aaron McGill had an off of his own at the same point of the circuit, bringing out the full-course yellow once again.

Tom Tweedie was also an early casualty, retiring with damage to the back of his Falcon after colliding with Chaz Mostert at Griffins Bend.

Mostert spent the majority of his race battling for sixth with Rodney Jane, whose power advantage made overtaking exceedingly difficult for the reigning Formula Ford Champion.

The battle ended when the pair made contact at the exit of Hell Corner after Mostert had made an inside pass but failed to leave room for Jane on the exit. Both cars briefly visited the sodden grass on the exit, causing Jane to spin to the inside and out of the race.

Mostert lost a position in the incident thanks to an opportunistic Blanchard, but regained seventh spot a lap later when Marcus Zukanovic slowed with damage from grazing the exit wall at The Cutting.

Colin Sieders failed to finish after hitting the wall on the way into Forrest Elbow, while David Wall was forced to pit his Wilson Security Commodore having run strongly inside the top 10.

Thompson now leads the series standings by 178 points over Russell with two rounds remaining. Perkins is a further 90 points behind in third, while McLaughlin and Blanchard round out the top five.

See below for the full race result