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Critical win delivers Mawson Tasman Series win in dramatic race 2
A DRAMATIC second S5000 Tasman Series race at the VALO Adelaide 500 has delivered Joey Mawson victory and left one point between he and series leader Nathan Herne heading into tomorrow’s series’ finale’.
The Pilatus Team BRM driver scored a clutch victory in a wild second race today, while a lowly finish for Nathan Herne caused a massive swing in the points standings and left Herne hanging onto the series lead by a single point with one race to go.
Provisionally, Herne now leads Mawson 177 points to 176 going into tomorrow’s 12-lap finale, which pays 50 points to win.
The race started in dramatic fashion when the race was incorrectly started rather than the field being waved away for the formation lap.
That caused a red flag and a recovery for Mark Rosser, who was caught up in an incident at turn seven and forced out with damage.
The restart saw Mawson sweep across the front of Herne to take the lead, while a fast-starting Cooper Webster also jumped the race one winner.
The trio ran in that order before Herne began to slow and was ultimately forced to pit lane with an overheating gearbox – due to the lengthy restart process – and a subsequent tap of the wall at turn 7.
The Team Valvoline GRM driver returned to the track to circulate and ultimately finished 11th, salvaging some points to narrowly maintain the title lead.
While Mawson and Webster pulled away in front, Giancarlo Fisichella held third position before he brushed the wall at turn eight.
Though initially having no ill-effects, the VALO car later suffered a left rear broken suspension – the same side that hit the fence – forcing him out of the race.
That elevated Blake Purdie to an outstanding third, the Nippy’s Versa Motorsport driver fending off Ben Bargwanna and a recovering Aaron Cameron in a tight battle to the line for the final spot on the podium.
Noah Sands survived a wild ride across the gravel at turn one to finish seventh, Jude Bargwanna was eighth with Brad Gartner and Elly Morrow 10th.
Having run strongly early in the race, Tim Macrow was a late non-finisher in his UCS Group TMR entry.
With Herne and Mawson first and second in the standings, Ben Bargwanna remains in mathematical title calculations 43 points from the series lead.
Tomorrow’s final race commences at 10:10am local time at the VALO Adelaide 500.