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Heinrich steals TCM honours

Heinrich wins again

By Thomas Miles

The pace of Joel Heinrich could not be relented as he stole the race and the round win from Steven Johnson.

Despite Johnson leading the first eight laps, Heinrich charged past and won by the huge margin of 13s in just 16 laps.

With the pair sharing the two points paying races, they matched each other on points, but Heinrich claimed the round on countback.

With flat tyres causing plenty of pain for Adam Garwood, Danny Buzadzic was rewarded with a hard-earned podium.

Following the early morning carnage, only 10 cars took part in the finale.

Once again Johnson nailed the start as the top four slotted into their respective positions on a clean opening lap.

But the fight for second was sparked on Lap 2 which started with Garwood launching a bold dive on Heinrich at Turn 2.

The little Capri pulled alongside and made it stick on the long blast to the hairpin where Heinrich fought back to reclaim position in the big Camaro.

This brought Garwood into the clutches of Hansford’s Torana and the pair ran nose to tail for multiple laps.

Joel Heinrich hunted down Steven Johnson. Image: TCM

This allowed Johnson to build his lead beyond a second and also Heinrich to go a further 3s up the road.

The battle for third ended on Lap 5 when Hansford locked up both rears and spun 180 degrees at the hairpin.

This dropped the Multispares Torana down to seventh, while David Hender did the same thing right behind him a few laps later.

Although Johnson appeared in control, Heinrich had slashed his advantage by Lap 6.

Suddenly the top two were nose to tail, setting up an intriguing seven-minute fight for victory.

Heinrich had his first look at Turn 6 on Lap 8 and did not quite get up far enough, but Johnson left the door open.

This allowed the Whiteline Racing Camaro to stick to the inside and snare the lead down the pit straight.

In an instant Heinrich rocketed 13s up the road and it was game over.

Garwood dropped out of contention with not one, but two flat tyres and he went from third to ninth as the last finisher with Tony Karanfilovski a DNF.

Buzadzic was rewarded with a hard earned podium.

Touring Car Masters return to the Supercars spotlight at the Darwin Triple Crown on June 20-22.

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