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Joey Mawson’s chance of going five straight in race wins, a category record, in the 2023 S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship was thwarted by a rule breach. Instead, it was Cooper Webster who took out the second race of Round 2.
Racing for Versa Motorsport, Webster made a brilliant start to grab the lead off pole-sitter Mawson as they surged to and around Turn 1 at Phillip Island. James Golding snared third ahead of his Garry Rogers Motorsport team-mate Aaron Cameron while Blake Purdie was hard on the heels of Nic Carroll and ahead of Jordan Boys, Winston Smith and Mark Rosser.
The challenge for the lead came after a Safety Car period which was brought about by Smith who spun off and became stuck in the Turn 2 gravel.
Mawson was able to utilise his push-to-pass to slipstream his way to lead. But he was deemed to be overlapping at the start/finish line.
“I really wasn’t even thinking there was a problem, as in Europe overlapping is allowed,” he said. “But I knew there was something going on when I got the call to stretch the lead.”
The 88Racing Team BRM driver crossed the line first but was relegated to fourth. Webster scored his first win for the year while Golding kept Cameron at bay throughout for second.
In the battle for fourth, Carroll was challenged by Purdie on Lap 8. The Nippy’s pilot tried at Turn 4 and then made the pass work out of Siberia. Boys was also in the mix and primed to also make a move, but it just didn’t work in the end. Rosser finished eighth as Smith was able to resume, albeit a lap down.
The second round final race which is based on the points from Races 1 and 2 is earmarked for this afternoon. The original schedule had to be adjusted after fog delayed the program start.
Australian viewers can watch the Shannons SpeedSeries live and ad-free on Stan Sport, while international viewers can see the action for free on Speedcafe.
