Heinrich overcomes Garwood in TCM battle
It has been a bright start to race day at The Bend with Joel Heinrich overcoming Adam Garwood in a thrilling fight for Race 2 of Touring Car Masters.
Despite Garwood’s Ford Capri slicing and dicing for the lead across three laps, Heinrich again prevailed to continue his winning streak at Shell V-Power Motorsport Park.
His 18th win further strengthens his formidable position at the top of the championship, while Ryan Hansford put in a mighty drive, rising seven spots to third.
Under the rising South Australian sun, Garwood got the launch off the rolling start to snatch the lead from Heinrich around the outside.
Johnson and Cam Tilley performed the same move on Fisher, who dropped back amid the shuffling through the opening corners.
After putting all four wheels in the grass when the lights went out, the Scott Cameron Camaro did not last long after it created a massive cloud of smoke.
Another victim of the second lap was Cameron Tilley, who lost a top-five place when he locked up at the first corner and speared across the track.
Fortunately, the Pacer escaped without contact and carried on, eventually scrapping to a top 10.
At the front of the field, Heinrich started applying pressure on Garwood to set up a brilliant battle for the lead.
He had a look at the penultimate corner before going underneath at the final corner.
However, Garwood responded with a well-executed move down the pit straight.
It was rinse and repeat at the end of Lap 3 when Heinrich performed the same move, only for the Capri to shoot back past, this time on the outside.
The pair then ran at close quarters throughout Lap 4 where Heinrich chose Turn 13 as his next attacking point and this time it worked.
Having shadowed the Ford Capri for the first half of the lap, the Whiteline Racing Camaro dived down the inside at the open right-hander.
On this occasion, there was no window of opportunity to fight back for Garwood, putting the full stop on another exciting chapter of racing.
Behind them Hansford and Fisher picked off Johnson in consecutive corners to complete the Multispares Torana’s climb up the order.
The race ended under the Safety Car after Martin Riseley speared off into the gravel at the penultimate corner.
Heinrich only has 10 minutes to jump from the Camaro to his Mustang Aussie Racing Car
The third and final TCM race is at 10.00 ACST.
Image: TCM
Practice 2: 1: Jamie Whincup 1:50.5875 2: Todd Hazelwood +0.2082 3: Dale Wood +0.3248
Practice 3: 1: Will Brown 1:48.9957 2: Broc Feeney +0.3210 3: Thomas Randle +0.3837
Practice 4: 1 James Moffat 1:50.7387 2 Lee Holdsworth +0.1864 3 Rylan Gray +0.2128
Practice 5: 1 Ryan Wood 1:49.2867 2 Brodie Kostecki +0.0272 3 Broc Feeney +0.0584
Qualifying: 1 Brodie Kostecki 1:49.3947 2 Broc Feeney +0.0081 3 Cameron Waters +0.0628
Top 10 Shootout: 1 Broc Feeney 1:48.6548 2 Cameron Hill +0.1023 3 Brodie Kostecki +0.1286
Warm Up: Sunday 9.30-9.50
Race 26: Sunday 13.45-17.18 102 laps
Read the new issue of Auto Action Digital HERE
Buy the new issue of Auto Action Premium HERE
Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here or you can purchase a copy of the latest issue from one of our outlets here.
