Racing hard around the Bend

By Thomas Miles

Date posted: June 1, 2024

It was a busy SpeedSeries Saturday at the Bend with drivers chasing opening race wins and the likes of Todd Hazelwood, Declan Fraser and Jordan Cox excelled.

Triple Eight Race Engineering is back on top in the GT World Challenge after Peter Hackett and Declan Fraser drove their Mercedes to victory lane.

It was an exciting start as the leaders went four wide into Turn 1 where Garth Walden emerged ahead of Brad Schumacher.

Liam Talbot put the #1 Ferrari into the top two, while Mark Rosser spun Steve Brooks.

All the contenders pitted at a similar stage and the big winner was Fraser, who emerged with track position.

Despite the odd nervous moment with lapped traffic, he kept Chaz Mostert at bay to win by 1.9s.

Race 2 is at at 13:55pm ACST.

Cox and Tony D’Alberto staged a fierce fight for TCR victory in the opening sprint of the weekend.

The pair engaged their scrap from the moment lights went out when Zac Soutar went nowhere.

Having hounded the back of the Peugeot all race, D’Alberto came up alongside on Lap 13, but could not quite get close enough.

The odd lockup from Cox kept D’Alberto interested but he could not find a way past.

Josh Buchan overcame a five-spot grid penalty to finish third.

There was plenty of tension and controversy in Trans Am.

Hazelwood crossed the line first in both races but was only awarded victory in one of them.

He and James Moffat were fighting for victory in the closing stages when a Safety Car disrupted proceedings after Lee Stibbs spun at Turn 11.

But at the same corner Hazelwood passed Moffat at the same corner when Safety Car boards and flags were displayed.

As a result, Hazelwood was stripped of what would have been a maiden win and Moffat was promoted to the top step.

However, the TFH Racing driver only needed the very next opportunity to get that sought after victory.

Hazelwood jumped Moffat off the line in Race 2, while by turn 1 Jackson Rice rotated.

Moffat stayed within a second by the end of the race but this time there was no stopping Hazelwood from taking the first victory.

Nathan Herne put in a solid drive in the privateer Dodge Challenger to get a safe third, well ahead of Jordan Boys and James Golding.

Both TCR and Trans Am have two more races on Sunday at The Bend.

Image: RACE PROJECT

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Racing hard around the Bend

All the contenders pitted at a similar stage and the big winner was Fraser, who emerged with track position.

Having hounded the back of the Peugeot all race, D’Alberto came up alongside on Lap 13, but could not quite get close enough.

He and James Moffat were fighting for victory in the closing stages when a Safety Car disrupted proceedings after Lee Stibbs spun at Turn 11.

Moffat stayed within a second by the end of the race but this time there was no stopping Hazelwood from taking the first victory.

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