Randle wins Sports Sedans thriller
Thomas Randle emerged victorious in a thrilling Precision National Sports Sedan Series opener at The Bend Motorsport Park.
In a 10-lap race that contained three lead changes, it was the Supercars driver in the SAAB 9-3 that took the chequered flag first.
He was 2.8s clear go Geoff Taunton at the finish, but that did not tell the entire story with Peter Ingram joining them on the podium after an eventual race.
Steve Lacey was fourth ahead of rookie Bradley Sherriff, while Steve Tamasi and Ashley Jarvis were late retirements after a clash on Lap 8.
Ingram got a strong start and lead the field at the start in Mazda RX7 ahead of poleman Taunton as Randle watched the duo battle in third.
Ingram held P1 for three laps before Taunton got by on Lap 4, but the MARC driver’s time in the front was over on Lap 7 when he slipped from first to third.
This put Ingram back in charge for a lap, but behind him was the patient Randle, who used his racing smarts.
Having bided his time, the Tickford driver pounced on Lap 8 to pass the Mazda RX7, which also lost second to Taunton.
It proved well timed as Tomasi’s charge from ninth ended in tears.
The Holden Calibra driver worked his way up to fourth until Lap 8 when he tagged Ingram chasing third.
Both cars rotated and whilst Ingram carried on to hold onto third, Tamasi could not restart his Calibra.
Elsewhere Lacey and Sherriff had a ding dong battle for fourth to complete an entertaining Sports Sedans opener.
Ryan Humphy was an instant retirement whilst there was still no sign of Jordan Caruso.
After an exciting race 1, all eyes will be on race 2 at 7.30 ACST Sunday morning.
Precision National Sports Sedan Series Race 1 The Bend results
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