Morris soars to Trans Am success
In a tense game of tyre management, a smashing opening lap saw Nash Morris soar to race 2 Trans Am glory at Phillip Island.
Starting fifth Morris got a grand start and hit the lead within a lap and controlled the contest from there despite lots of action occurring behind.
He managed to keep championship leaders James Moffat and James Golding at bay, while Jordan Boys, Todd Hazelwood and Tim Slade made it a Mustang top six.
Racing Academy youngster Elliott Cleary also had pace to burn and flew to second, only to use too much of his tyres and a puncture saw him retire.
Moffat won the rolling start to lead the field into turn 1 as Race 1 winner Golding settled for second ahead of Cleary who was sliding his Mustang on corner exit.
By the time the field charged to Miller Corner, it was Morris in second after he made a big dive on Golding who also had Cleary on his outside.
Whilst that move remained clear, a similar but more bold three wide attempt ended in tears at MG.
Tom Davies was spun by Ben Grice, who tried to move past Mark Bailey and torpedoed the #42 instead.
Although Moffat had built a small gap in the early corners, he had no answer for Morris whose pace proved overwhelming with the #67 in charge by the end of the opening lap.
To make matters worse for the reigning champion, Cleary also slid through the inside of Doohan Corner.
The Racing Academy youngster was the fastest driver on track and he started hounding the rear of Morris to set up a nail-biting fight for the lead.
On lap 3 the pair ran side by side in the run up to Siberia and also Lukey Heights.
On lap 4 Cleary tried to have a look around the outside of Morris at Miller Corner, but locked up and sacrificed second to Moffat.
Although the side by side action had settled down as the top five charged away from the pack, setting an intense pace at the front.
Cleary then nailed the next response, snatching second from Moffat with a great move down the inside at Miller Corner on lap 7.
However, it turned out the young gun used too much of his tyre and the rubber gave way at Lukey Heights on lap 9.
He was forced to box and drop from second to out of contention.
This created some breathing space for the top three of Morris, Moffat and Golding, but the other Racing Academy entry of Boys was closing in.
Morris built a seven tenths advantage but Moffat and Golding cut it down to under half a second on the final lap.
Despite the late challenge the #67 had enough in hand to hold onto an impressive win.
The Trans Am finale is at 14.05 AEST.
Image: Trans Am
Trans Am Phillip Island Race 2 results
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