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Johnson consolidates series lead with Winton win
Steve Johnson has further extended his series lead after converting pole position into a Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters race win.
The Hancock racing entry executed the rolling start to perfection, able to hold position into the opening few corners ahead of second-place runner Ryan Hansford – who was promoted to second on the grid sheet after John Bowe was scratched from the race – his team unable to fix the issue from the morning session.
Trophy Race winner Andrew Fisher was one of the biggest movers in the early stages of the race, with his Holden Torana A9X sitting nicely in fifth position.
It wasn’t until a couple of laps later where the morning’s podium getter Marcus Zudanovic sparked the first bit of drama when his car started excessively smoking from the rear, dropping all the way down to last as a result.
Johnson had Hansford in his review mirrors for the majority of the race but was able to use his experience to further extend the gap, before the latter was suddenly under pressure from the rapid Adam Garwood.
Piloting the Garwood Racing Holden Commodore VB, the Victorian attempted a risky move on Hansford and ultimately ran out of track room, surrendering the position once again as a result.
It was looking all good and well for Hansford in second place, but in similar fashion to Bowe had issues in the dying stages of the race and fell down the order – later forced to pull over on the side of the track on the final lap of the race.
The issue meant Garwood was promoted into second place for the second time today, but the series leader was already far up the road and was able to cross the line comfortably in first by over two seconds.
Coming in third was Western General Body Works Danny Buzadzic, who was able to hold off Fisher after he was promoted into fourth – curtesy of Hansford’s Holden Torana A9X issues.
It was an impressive outing from TIFS Third Party Logistics Tony Karanfilovski, powering his Ford Mustang TransAm into fifth after starting the race from ninth.
Anglomoil Superior Lubricants’ Cameron Tilley then followed in sixth place and will be looking to work his way back up to the leading pack in the coming races.
The Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Series will return for another day of thrilling action on Sunday with the first of two races beginning at 10:25am AEST.
You can catch all the action live, on-demand, and ad-break free on Stan Sport from 9:30am AEST on Sunday.