Heinrich in cruise control
Joel Heinrich cruised to a comfortable win in Race 2 of Touring Car Masters at Darwin as Ryan Hansford and Steven Johnson battled hard.
Johnson led early, but had no answer for the supreme pace of the Whiteline Racing Camaro of Heinrich, who took a commanding 4.9s win.
Adam Garwood was the next across the line after the seas parted in front of him.
Johnson sat in second until the final minutes as Hansford launched a counterattack from behind.
But his red hot go at Turn 1 proved a step too far as the Multispares Torana spun in front of the BRUT Mustang, allowing Garwood to jump them both.
Andrew Fisher started his first race of the weekend, while Allan Hughes was the only retirement 2 laps down.
It was three wide going into turn 1 with front row starters Johnson and Heinrich joined by Pollicina.
Johnson made good use of the inside to defend his lead, while Pollicina got pushed wide to seventh as Garwood slipped into third.
Hansford started eighth due to a 15s post race penalty for passing under yellows and could only make one position on the opening lap with Zukanovic, Tilley and Buzadzic between him and the top three.
Zukanovic’s XD Falcon was swamped by the faster legs of the Buzadzic and Hansford Toranas as the Multispares Racing driver charged into the top five.
After 10 minutes of racing Heinrich started applying the pressure on Johnson for the lead.
At the end of the following lap the BRUT Mustang got unsettled coming out of the final corner and this presented the perfect opportunity for the Whiteline Racing rival.
Heinrich got a run down the long pit straight and set up a successful move down the inside at Turn 1.
Johnson had no answer for Heinrich, who then controlled the remaining nine minutes of the race.
Hansford caught Tilley and launched a big move on the Mustang Coupe.
After climbing the Turn 1 kerb Hansford got the job done and three laps later he attacked Garwood.
But the VB Commodore got its elbows out as the pair ran side by side through Turn 1.
Despite being on the outside Hansford hung tough and won the battle on corner exit when Garwood’s rear end stepped out.
With six minutes to go Hansford started examining the rear of Johnson to ignite a battle for second.
After three laps Hansford made a deep lunge on Johnson, but it did not pay off with Johnson keeping him at bay.
The Multispares Racing driver had a second attempt on the following visit to turn 1 and was able to get alongside Johnson on this occasion.
However, Hansford went too deep, clipped the kerb and rotated.
He spun in front of Johnson, who did well to avoid contact, but lost second to Garwood in doing so.
The mistake meant Hansford fell to sixth as Scott Cameron did the same thing.
It was a blessing for Buzadzic, who lost sixth with a similar off at Turn 1, but he still put in an impressive fightback inside the final four minutes to rise from seventh and finish in the top five.
Meanwhile, Heinrich was in a league of his own and cruised to a 5s win.
The final Touring Car Masters race is at 12.40 ACST on Sunday.
Image: James Smith Photographer
Touring Car Masters Race 2 results
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