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Webster claims Round 2 with emphatic Sunday drive
COOPER WEBSTER has powered to a stunning victory in Round 2 of the S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship, going head-to-head with and ending in front of two-time champion Joey Mawson in a Phillip Island fight.
Webster claimed both of Sunday’s two races – one by a penalty for a rival and one by sheer, raw pace – to take the Phillip Island weekend ahead of Mawson and James Golding in his most convincing S5000 performance yet.
Webster started on pole position on Saturday and finished second in race one, but was out for more than that on Sunday.
He started second in race two however beat Mawson into turn one. The pair battled and Mawson struck on a mid-race restart, snaring the race lead and crossing the line first.
However, the 88Racing / Team BRM driver was subsequently penalised five seconds for overlapping on the restart.
That handed the win to Webster, who was originally second, and second to James Golding.
Mawson finished third while Aaron Cameron was also penalised for an overlap on his GRM teammate, ultimately relegated to seventh with his five second time addition.
That set up the race three showdown between Webster and Mawson as they lined up on the front row together for the third time this weekend.
This time the pair made even starts with Webster ultimately enjoying a narrow margin to edge across the BRM driver at turn one.
He was never headed from there, with he, Mawson and Golding running line astern for the duration to finish in that order.
Aaron Cameron had a consistent weekend to finish fourth overall with Blake Purdie running strongly on Sunday in his Nippy’s machine to finish fifth.
Nic Carroll was sixth ahead of debutant Winston Smith, Jordan Boys and Mark Rosser.