Fraser and Vaughan seal Dunlop Series crowns as Turn 8 bites hard

SUPER 2

Declan Fraser has taken out the Dunlop Super 2 Series crown with the perfect weekend at the VALO Adelaide 500.

Fraser clean swept the weekend taking both poles and race wins and although the latter was as a result of a post-race penalty for Matt Chahda, nothing was going to stop the Triple Eight Race Engineering driver from celebrating the title with plenty of emotion.

Although Zak Best and Matthew Payne were outside chances, Fraser just needed to finish to win the Super 2 championship and he did exactly that.

Fraser got a good jump off the line as Chahda spring a surprise and split the championship leader and rival Best.

But Chahda was not done with yet and used his bumper to snatch the lead from Fraser.

However, the stewards did not look down on the bump and run move fondly and handed him a five-second penalty.

Fortunately the Triple Eight Race Engineering driver stayed away from the barriers and settled into second.

The restart arrived on Lap 7 and the positions remained unchanged across the top four, while Cameron Hill made a late-braking move.

But one lap later Hill was the third driver of the race to come unstuck at Turn 8, hitting the wall flush and being wiped out on the spot.

The impact was so heavy it moved the concrete blocks back significantly and the DNF sent the rookie of the year title Payne’s way.

Zayne Morse was another casualty, while Angelo Mouzouris did not greet the starter due to the damage suffered on Saturday.

At the restart Fraser suddenly suffered a major scare, running wide out of the hairpin and almost conceded a position to Best after the pair came to blows prior to the green flag.

One lap later Best now had his elbows out and lost second to Thomas Maxwell around the outside of the Senna Chicane.

But it did not have a say on the standings as Maxwell suffered a 15-second time penalty for a safety car infringement where he 

As the battle for the minor places intensified, Chahda put the foot down to finishes as high up as possible.

But he could not do enough to hold onto the race win and was demoted to second behind Fraser, who sealed the title in style.

SUPER 3 

Brad Vaughan has stolen the Super 3 title after the season finished in heartbreaking fashion for longtime leader for Kai Allen. 

Having been the clear pacesetter all year, Allen’s championship aspirations were wiped out by one small mistake, which stunned the paddock.

The Mount Gambier teen went off line at the speedy Turn 8 and could not stop his VE Commodore from hitting the concrete hard. The Eggleston Motorsport car did not come to a stop until the entry of Turn 9 with lots of front left damage.

Allen walked away unharmed from the incident, but was a dejected figure. 

Despite not putting a foot wrong all year, claiming the most pole positions and equal most round wins in a single season, the championship which appeared a done deal will not head Allen’s way.

Instead his long time rival Vaughan has been rewarded for consistency after running in Allen’s slipstream and winning the round in Adelaide.

Jarred Danaher also hit the wall on the exit of the right hander, but was able to press on and Adam Wallis needed assistance off the track after his retro themed Garry Rogers Motorsport Commodore broke down.