Bathurst International: Urrutia, Bowe and Zukanovic score special wins

The likes of Santiago Urrutia, James Moffat and fittingly John Bowe were at their dominant best as racing took centre stage on a busy Saturday at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst International.

All eyes were on to see how the TCR World Tour drivers will handle racing around the famous Mount Panorama and no one could come near the #112 Lynk & Co of Urratia.

After being upstaged by Tony D’Alberto in the fight for pole position, Urratia got the jump off the front row and never looked back.

Despite a Safety Car setting up a two-lap dash, the Uruguay driver remained cool under pressure to lead home a pair of Hondas.

Santiago Urrutia dominated the first TCR World Tour race at at Bathurst. Image: RACE PROJECT

Nestor Girolami held of D’Alberto in the fight for second and the #1 Wall Racing Honda waved the flag for the locals.

The reigning champion was the only Aussie in the top seven with the Lynk & Cos of Yann Ehrlacher and Thed Bjork completing the top five.

TCR Australia championship leader Bailey Sweeny lost ground to HMO Customer Racing teammate Josh Buchan. Buchan was the second highest TCR Australia competitor in eighth, while Sweeny could only manage 12th overall and fifth in class.

Yvan Ehrlacher leads his the TCR field into Hell Corner. Image: RACE PROJECT

However, Sweeny still maintains a small, but solid 29-point advantage into the big final day. He lost some spots off the line but regained ground notably by pulling off a brave move on Ben Bargwanna at The Chase.

The Safety Car stoppage was caused by Mikel Azcona who suffered a puncture and stopped at The Chase.

Two more races follow on Sunday with the first a reverse top 10 affair at 12.50 AEDT.

The Touring Car Masters started racing at Bathurst in a special way with Bowe taking the chequered flag first in the Trophy Race.

The veteran who is completing the penultimate round of his final full-time season put in a fairytale drive in the opener.

Starting sixth Bowe turned back the clock and was on the charge in the Holden Torana SL/R.

He rose to third second by lap two and carried on his momentum in the second half of the race, snatching the lead from Brad Tilley on lap four.

John Bowe scored a special Trophy Race win at Bathurst. Image: Daniel Kailsz

From there Bowe completed the job and won by three tenths over the hard charging Andrew Fisher to bring a smile to all watching at Mount Panorama.

Bowe would finish second best in Race 1 to Marcus Zukanovic in an eventful affair.

Zukanovic converted on his early pace which led to pole and made the race winning move on lap one.

Cameron Tilley jumped Zukanovic and led through turn one but the latter’s Ford Falcon XD showcased its superior straight-line speed to charge into the lead down Mountain Straight.

Fisher’s hopes of victory were ended when he had a rear end failure in the run into Forrests Elbow and just avoided contact between the wall and Tilley.

But Brad Tilley was not so lucky with a puncture sending him into the Griffins Bend concrete on the final lap and almost a roll.

Up front Zukanovic enjoyed a cruise to victory by 2s over Bowe and Cameron Tilley with Ryan Hansford and Steven Johnson completing the top five.

Two more TCM races follow at 10.35 and 14.05 AEDT.

James Moffat is on the cusp of a maiden Trans Am crown after securing another win in a crash-affected Bathurst International opener.

James Moffat cruises to another Trans Am win. Image: RACE PROJECT

Moffat enjoyed a “perfect day” taking pole position and converting it into victory ahead of the impressive Edan Thornburrow.

As the GRM driver took control off the line, racing did not last long as chaos erupted behind on lap six.

A spin by Zach Loscialpo blocked the track at the bottom of the mountain where both Ben Grice and Elliot Barbour both careered into the Camaro.

The race was unable to be resumed in time due to the incident with Moffat securing another win, this time under the control of the Safety Car.

Moffat will look to close out the Trans Am title with his 86-point lead over Lochie Dalton in the final two races on Sunday.

Just like the Precision National Sports Sedans, Cameron McLeod mastered his debut in the V8 Touring Car Series at Bathurst.

Driving an ex Shane van Gisbergen SBR FG Falcon in a 2010 livery, McLeod was untouchable, converting pole position to a huge 9s win.

Jude Bargwanna had to settle for second best after a battle with Ryan Simpson.

The V8 Touring Car Series kick off Sunday’s action at 10.05 AEDT.

The Porsche Sprint Challenge season has wrapped up and whilst Marco Giltrap had already sealed the crown, Nash Morris made the biggest statement at Bathurst.

Morris swept up all three races, backing up his Friday success by doing the double on Saturday.

The first was an action-packed affair interrupted by the Safety Car due to a number of incidents as Giltrap even found trouble, being a DNF due to a puncture.

Morris led home Hamish Fitzsimmons and Oscar Targett. It was the same top two in the finale and joining them on the podium was Aron Shields who put in a solid drive.

This was also shortened due to a heavy crash for Marco Flack.

In Australian Production Cars Ian Sherrin was untouchable taking out both races, while Invited honours also went to one man, Tim Leahey.

The Supercheap Auto Bathurst International where a number of titles will be sealed begins returns on Sunday with a schedule below.

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