Sandown supports – Borg back in charge of SuperUtes, Richards and Logan share Toyota wins

There racing was fierce in both the V8 SuperUte and Toyota 86 Series at Sandown with some memorable moves made for the win. 

V8 SuperUte Series – race 1

Aaron Borg dominated like he never left and fell just short of sweeping all three V8 SuperUte Series races by the barest of margins at Sandown.

Borg missed the last round at the Bend but made up for lost time by getting his sixth win of the year and beating Adam Marjoram by 0.9s in the first of three Saturday races.

Marjoram got the jump over Borg with David Sieders settling into third as the field began the first of three Saturday races cleanly.

Aaron Borg dominated a super Saturday at Sandown, winning two of the three SuperUte races. Image: Aaron Borg Racing

By lap four Borg was ready to make his move and swooped around the outside of Marjoram at Dandenong Road.

After giving Borg a tap in response, Marjoram’s front bodywork became loose and caused troubles with his front left, but he managed to carry the damage to the chequered flag.

Further back Richard Mork had a wild ride through turns two and three, while Jaiden Maggs spun after locking up at turn one.

Sieders lost third to Harris after running wide at turn three near the end.

Race 2 

The second V8 SuperUtes race of the day at Sandown will go down in the memory as a photo finish was required to separate Harris and Borg at the chequered flag.

The pair were split by just 0.042s as they went side by side over the line with Harris sneaking his nose in front.

The inverted grid race saw Borg start down in sixth as Jimmy Vernon led the field away.

But he was only in charge for one lap until Harris forced his way by at the second visit to Dandenong Road.

Another driver on the charge was Borg, who made his way up to second by the halfway mark and set his sights on Harris.

Ryal Harris managed to hold off Aaron Borg in a last lap thriller in race two at Sandown. Image: Ryal Harris Racing

He caught “The Kid” on the final lap and had a crack at turn nine, but could not get it done.

Borg had another attempt with a run out of the final corner to setup a drag race to the chequered and fell short by the barest of margins.

Race 3

Borg only had 90 minutes to get over the near miss and no one could come close to him in race three, as he cruised to a dominant lights to flag Sandown success.

Borg nailed the start to take control off the line and establish a lead he would not let go.

Marjoram shadowed him throughout, being half a second away early before dropping a further second by the finish ahead of Jimmy Vernon and Cody Brewczynski, who enjoyed a personal best result in fourth.

Harris was a frontrunner during the early stages and sat second initially before he lost the place in crazy circumstances, getting his #58 Ford Ranger sideways at the wildly fast turn six.

Despite drifting through the high speed left hander, Harris somehow got his car back in the right direction at the following right hander, but only after Marjoram snuck by.

Harris still looked set for a podium until he was suddenly reduced to a crawl on lap four.

He limped back to the garage and despite returning to the track, he finished last a lap down.

Further back Mork went off after a huge lockup at the first turn, while Craig Woods down the inside of David Casey to head a big pack of Utes chasing sixth spot.

Meanwhile Borg cruised to a lights to flag 1.7s win.

The fourth and final V8 SuperUtes Series race is at 10.45 AEST.

Toyota 86 Series – race 1

Clay Richards converted a breakthrough pole position into victory in the opening Toyota 86 Series race at Sandown.

Richards went side by side with Ryan Tomsett at turn one and emerged in front after receiving a whack from the #27.

Tomsett had another crack a few laps later and went side by side with Richards through the fast Esses section.

He then had another crack which saw both of them run wide at turn nine which brought Rylan Gray into play.

Targett then lost two spots and would eventually fall all the way down to 22nd.

After mounting a strong defence from Targett’s attack, Richards was never threatened from there and cruised to a 3s win.

Meanwhile the battle for second did not dissipate as Reuben Goodall snatched the spot from Gray with a last-lap move.

Race 2

The second race was an unpredictable one until the end with Campbell Logan beating Reuben Goodall and Jarrod Hughes at Sandown. 

Richards and Goodall went side by side through turn one, but further back they could not go three wide as Tom Davies spun out.

Richards and Goodall carried on their battle all the way until Dandenong Road where the latter snatched the lead in impressive fashion around the outside.

Hughes then took a lunge on Goodall at turn nine which opened the door for Logan to sneak to second.

At this point Richards had dropped out of contention and even went flying off at turn three and the landing destroyed the left rear tyre.

Another story of misfortune was Targett, whose race ended in the fence at turn four after losing out in a skirmish.

Up front Hughes and Logan were giving it everything for the win.

Logan got a run up the back straight and surfed around the outside of Hughes in the Estes to take the lead in memorable fashion.

He then controlled the final seven laps of the race as Goodall also jumped Hughes for second.

More close racing can be expected in the Toyotas in the third and final race at 11.40 AEST Sunday morning.

Image: Peter Norton/Epic Sports Photography

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