Cameron leads rebuilt warriors to special TCM win
Scott Cameron rewarded Whiteline Racing with an emotional first Touring Car Masters win as fittingly all three rebuilt cars completed the podium at Hidden Valley.
Last start at Tasmania, Cameron, Jude Bargwanna and Andrew Fisher were fearing for the future of their cars after they were badly bruised in a heavy crash at Turn 3.
But after all three teams completed some mighty rebuilds, all three are now buzzing on the podium, having dominated the Trophy Race.
Whiteline Racing had a nationwide search for parts to replace the entire front section of the Camaro, and Cameron has marked the rebuild and first anniversary of his category debut by taking an unforgettable maiden win.
He made up nine spots to complete his journey to a massive 7s win.
Bargwanna and Fisher both clashed at Turn 3 in Tasmania and needed to perform some miracles with the help of Bendigo Retro Muscle Cars to be on track in Darwin.
In their first start, they also made some big gains with Bargwanna and Fisher making up nine and seven spots respectively to score meaningful podiums.
Earlier in qualifying, championship leader Joel Heinrich set a new record to take his first pole of 2025, but he was forced to start 14th due to the grid being flipped around for the Trophy Race
Buzadzic started from the pits, while Cam Tilley did not make the grid at all, robbing him of pole position.
This allowed Karanfilovski to enjoy the front row all to himself and immediately pulled 2s on the field as Burnitt battled with Hassell in an all Torana battle.
The little Holdens were soon gobbled up by the big Camaro of Cameron.
Hansford was the biggest mover on the opening lap, moving up an impressive seven spots to fifth.
The Multispares racer quickly caught Hassell to make it a three-way Torana fight for third before Bargwanna joined the fray and this is where his charge came to an end.
The Duggan Family Racing driver snatched at the opportunity to attack Hansford, as did Fisher to demote the Multispares Torana back to seventh.
By Lap 3 Cameron had caught Karan to set up a fight for the lead and it was settled quickly as the Camaro flew past down the main straight.
Bargwanna pulled he same move on Hassell to snare third, while Burnitt lost it all together, flying off the track at high speed to drop from fourth to last and starting a grass fire.
He was not the only one with Garry Dempsey also going off at the final turn.
It took Bargwanna two laps to snare second from Karanfilovski with another slipstream move on the long run down to Turn 1.
Despite Bargwanna looking dangerous, Cameron had further aces up his sleeve and started producing fastest laps to maintain a 3s advantage.
Championship leader Heinrich made up eight spots to seventh until his Camaro crawled to a smoky stop on Lap 6.
Importantly, Heinrich went straight to the grass and pulled off on the inside of Turn 5 to keep the racing going.
By the 11 minute mark Hansford was back on the move and picked off Hassell for fifth at Turn 5.
At the same part of the track, local Commodore Cup driver Eddie Austin rotated.
With four minutes left Fisher caught and passed Karanfilovski to complete a special podium.
The Mustang was able to keep Hansford behind for a lap, only to gift the Torana fourth by dropping a wheel in the dirt coming out of Turn 7.
Touring Car Masters return with Race 1 at 8.30 AEST Saturday morning.
Supercars Darwin Triple Crown (times AEST)
Practice 1: Fri 13.20
Practice 2: Fri 15.25
Qualifying R17: Sat 9.05
Qualifying R18: Sat 9.55
Race 17 (42 laps): Sat 12.15
Race 18 (42 laps): Sat 15.40
Qualifying R19: Sun 9.35
Top 10 Shootout: Sun 12.05
Race 19 (70 laps): Sun 15.10
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