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HARRIS TAKES SUNDAY MORNING WIN IN SYDNEY
A LAST lap pass has delivered Ryal Harris his second victory of the Paynter Dixon Touring Car Masters season the EFS Camaro storming to a surprise win in Race 15 of the championship this morning at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Aaron Seton led the six-lap dash from pole and grabbed an early lead while Harris starting from third found himself boxed in behind the leader and Steven Johnson’s similar Mustang.
He passed Johnson at turn two and then shaded Seton in the early laps while the battle was well and truly on for the minors.
Johnson and John Bowe then battled closely the pair even making light contact at turn two while battling for position having exchanged the spot on two occasions.ÂÂ
Hansford was another mover climbing to third and hassling Harris in second while Bowe gapped Johnson and set about chasing a spot on the podium. He’d pass Hansford mid-race to move to third and set about in pursuit of the leaders.
Seton was firmly in charge out in front however and set a new Sydney Motorsport Park on lap 2 – his 1m39.2537s best a full 1.9 seconds beneath Bowe’s existing benchmark set in 2015.
While the leaders settled down in their battle a furious five-car fight for sixth back was unfolding with Wellpro Racing’s Rob Hackwood finding himself under pressure in the early stages.
Seton led the field to the final lap however slowed while approaching turn four to surrender the lead to Harris. Bowe – who had worked to close the margin to Harris in the intervening laps – also slipped past while Hansford would bump Seton off the podium in the final few corners to finish third.
Bowe got to the bumper of the leading Camaro in the final corner and ultimately fell just 0.1 seconds short of ending his 21-race drought – Harris winning for the second time this year with Hansford back on the podium in third.
Seton finished fourth while fellow front-row starter Steven Johnson was a quiet fifth.
Hackwood withheld all challengers to finish sixth while Adam Bressington was a late mover – storming the VDC Whiteline Camaro to seventh after a slow start.
A charging Cameron Tilley raced his way to eighth from twelfth on the grid while Marcus Zukanovic and Bruce Williams completed the top-10.
Race 16 is scheduled to get underway at 1:45pm local time with live timing available via racing.natsoft.com.au/resultsÂÂ