Hazelwood starts title defence off in style

Todd Hazelwood has started life with the #1 perfectly by winning the opening Trans Am race of 2025 and he hopes for more success today at Race Tasmania.

Reigning champion Hazelwood held off Nathan Herne by just four tenths in a dramatic opener where James Moffat led the early stages, but dropped out.

The title rivals from last year tussled for the lead with Moffat emerging in front and leading the first 12 of 21 laps.

But an axle issue saw the GRM star crawl back to the pits and out of action.

Having snared second from Herne at the hairpin on Lap 8, this put Hazelwood in control and he did not let the lead go for the rest of the race.

However, it was far from calm behind the wheel with Hazelwood revealing he was very relieved for a late Safety Car to arrive and confirm his victory.

“Oh man, I had to fight for that, it wasn’t easy!” said Hazelwood.

“We had a slow right-front puncture from contact with Moff at the start.

“I was struggling to pull it up under brakes, and I lost the clutch with three laps to go before that safety car, so it was a perfectly timed safety car from my point of view.

James Moffat holds off Todd Hazelwood for the lead in the early stages. Image: DMAC

“We got the win, a good start to the weekend, and we’ll box on tomorrow.

“Three races back-to-back with these cars, it’s going to be tough work… it was unfortunate for Moff, he was out in front doing it easy, but you could see the smoke coming out the back of his car.”

The first attempt at racing was waved off due to the grid not properly aligned but when the lights went out Moffat got the jump.

Hazelwood immediately applied the pressure, but the #1 soon dropped to third with Herne sneaking past at the hairpin where there were moments for Tickford rookie Charlie Nash and Josh Webster.

The first Trans Am race for Touring Car Masters champion Adam Garwood also did not go to plan as he rotated at the hairpin.

All eyes were on the front of the field as Hazelwood hit back at Herne, while Moffat dropped out.

Hazelwood appeared to be struggling after a slide in the hairpin but the deciding Safety Car arrived for the stopped Robbie Farr with two minutes left.

Sneaking under the radar was Tom Davies, who put in a strong drive for GRM to appear on the podium ahead of James Golding and Lachlan Evennett, while Jordan Cox was sixth on debut.

A trio of 25-minute-long races are scheduled for 11:05am, 1:10pm and 4:20pm today.

Image: DMAC Photography

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