PAUL DUMBRELL WINS IN TASMANIA
Paul Dumbrell leading the field in the opening Dunlop Super2 race at Symmons Plains – Photo: Rhys Vandersyde
Paul Dumbrell has taken another win in the Dunlop Super2 series, taking the first of three races at Symmons Plains.
The former Bathurst 1000 winner made the best of the start from second on the grid and stayed clear of the pack in an action-packed race.
Dumbrell scooted away from a fast-starting Jack Smith, who held second until Pole man Chris Pither managed to find a way around the Brad Jones Racing Commodore on lap nine.
By the time Pither was into clean air his deficit to Dumbrell was 2s, but that gap was erased on Lap 10 after a multi-car incident at the Turn 4 hairpin.
That was triggered when Jake Kostecki came down the inside of other cars at the first-gear corner, leaving Kostecki’s car with suspension damage and stranded on the inside of the track.
Jake Kostecki’s stranded car – Photo: Rhys Vandersyde
While his car was trucked away, Pither closed the gap but a solid restart gave Dumbrell the lead he needed, to win by a second.
Pither held on for second from Smith and Kurt Kostecki, ahead of his cousin Brodie Kostecki.
Macauley Jones (Brad Jones Racing) was next, making the most of gaps that appeared ahead of him and driving from 11th to sixth.
Dean Fiore finished right behind him in his Nissan but a five-second time penalty, for his role in an incident involving Adam Marjoram, dropped him to 15th in the revised standings.
The race was not a memorable one for Garry Jacobson. The former series champion started sixth but a lap six clash with Shae Davies sent the former’s Nissan to the pits for a left-rear wheel. After arriving in Tasmania second in the series points, he dropped to third behind Dumbrell and Kurt Kostecki.
The second of the three Dunlop Super2 races, over 30 laps, is scheduled for Sunday at 9:10am.
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