Jamie Tilley has won Race 3 of Round 1 of Kumho Tyre V8 Touring Cars at Phillip Island after overhauling Jim Pollicina.
The latter led the majority of the 13-lap encounter after Jude Bargwanna, who had taken out the first two races, stalled at the start, and would just hold off the third-generation racer for second place at the chequered flag.
Ray Hislop (FG Falcon) finished fourth, from Tony Auddino (BF Falcon), Antonio Molluso (FG Falcon), and Peter Abood (VE Commodore).
When the lights went out on the start gantry, the fire went out in the Anderson Motorsport FG Falcon of Bargwanna.
Pollicina (VE Commodore) led the field into Doohan Corner from the outside of the front row, before Tilley (FG Falcon) passed Auddino for second through Southern Loop and into Stoner Corner.
Bargwanna was last of the seven drivers who took the start, 10 seconds away from the lead by the time he tripped the first sector of the race.
Hislop gave Auddino a touch as they ran through the Turn 12 sweeper on Lap 1, forcing him into a big catch before making a clean pass on the following lap at Miller Corner.
Bargwanna was on the road to recovery and overtook Auddino for fourth on Lap 4 at Stoner Corner, but was still more than nine seconds away from top spot.
In the meantime, Tilley had erased a one-second gap and was tailing the ex-Triple Eight Race Engineering VE Commodore of Pollicina, before Bargwanna got by Hislop for third on Lap 7.
He was six seconds away from the battle for first position at that point, but started to hack into the deficit as Pollicina continued to hold up Tilley.
The latter finally got by Car #7 into Doohan Corner on Lap 11, as Bargwanna ran three seconds back.
Second and third were virtually nose-to-tail even before Pollicina barely pulled up at Miller Corner on the final lap, but he held onto the position.
At the finish, it was Tilley by 1.7260s, with Pollicina pipping Bargwanna by 0.1314s, although the latter leaves Phillip Island with the series lead.
Round 2 takes place at the Winton Shannons SpeedSeries event on June 9-11, and will be streamed live and ad-free on Stan Sport.
Results: Race 3
| Pos | Num | Team/Sponsor | Driver | Car | Cls | Laps | Race time |
| 1 | 57 | Notlaw Racing | Jamie Tilley | Ford Falcon FG | C | 13 | 21:01.5361 |
| 2 | 7 | MoComm Motorsports Comms | Jim Pollicina | Holden Commodore VE | K | 13 | 21:03.2621 |
| 3 | 79 | Anderson Motorsport | Jude Bargwanna | Ford Falcon FG | C | 13 | 21:03.3935 |
| 4 | 23 | RHM / Nulon | Ray Hislop | Ford Falcon FG | K | 13 | 21:17.5899 |
| 5 | 4 | Rightway Industrial | Tony Auddino | Ford Falcon BF | K | 13 | 21:32.3579 |
| 6 | 50 | Burson Auto Parts | Antonio Molluso | Ford Falcon FG | C | 13 | 21:37.0782 |
| 7 | 67 | Mr HDT Race Cars | Peter Abood | Holden Commodore VE | K | 12 | 21:55.4757 |
Series points
| Pos | Driver | Pts |
| 1 | Jude Bargwanna | 129 |
| 2 | Jim Pollicina | 123 |
| 3 | Ray Hislop | 95 |
| 4 | Jamie Tilley | 87 |
| 5 | Tony Auddino | 82 |
| 6 | Antonio Molluso | 61 |
| 7 | Peter Abood | 43 |
| 8 | Tony Evangelou | 23 |
| 9 | Jacob Khouri | 0 |
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