Dalton wins Tickford tussle
By Thomas Miles
Date posted: 10 October 2025
In a battle of wildcard teammates, Lochie Dalton has held off Rylan Gray in a tense Super2 opening race at Bathurst.
In a familiar story in 2025, Dalton and Gray bolted away from the field fighting for victory, while Rueben Goodall made it a third all-Tickford podium of the season.
From pole, Dalton controlled the race and even resisted a late charge from Gray with just under half a second separating them at the finish.
After making a move on Cameron McLeod, Goodall had a lonely drive in third, 10s off the pace.
It was an all-green race with only a handful of incidents under sunny skies.
Dalton and Gray got okay launches from the front row, but the best launch was from McLeod.
He threatened to break the Tickford one-two, but had nowhere to go as Dalton kept his lead over Gray.
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By the end of the lap McLeod was on the back foot with Goodall breathing down his neck and could not stop the #5 from sneaking past at Murray’s and making it an all-Tickford podium.
Stewart had a slow start from fourth and slipped to seventh amid the battle packs as the racing stayed green.
After the opening two laps it was clear it was going to be a two-horse race for victory with Gray keeping Dalton honest as they sped 4s away from the pack.
Dalton ended up winning the battle, pulling his advantage to beyond a second after seven laps.
Webb found himself forced to work from the back of the grid after being disqualified from qualifying and made up a position a lap to soar into the top 15.
With the Tickford teammates checking out, the biggest battle through the mid part of the race was a train of cars led by the leading Commodore of Sinni in sixth.
He had Stewart, Burcher, Vaughan and Bates up his trumpet, but there was no position change with the Eggleston driver getting his elbows out.
Eventually, the pressure cracked at the back of the train with Sweeny locking up and sending Bates into a spin at The Chase.
Although Dalton had built a gap, Gray became a player again in the final minutes, halving the deficit to half a second, setting up a grandstand finish.
Six tenths was the difference at the start of the last lap, but Dalton’s speed up the mountain was too strong and he clung on.
One battle on the track is down as another shapes up off it with Tickford now tasked with the call to decide which one of Dalton or Gray qualify the Supercar.
Super2’s Saturday action starts with qualifying at 9.15 AEDT.
Image: Peter Norton Epic Sports Photography
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