Dumbrell beats Jacobson in Super2 opener

Eggleston Motorsport driver Paul Dumbrell won the first race of the 2018 Dunlop Super2 Series, holding off Garry Jacobson at the Adelaide 500.

The two-time Dunlop Super2 Series champion took an early lead, having beaten polesitter Jacobson off the line.

Dumbrell seized his opportunity to sneak past into Turn 1 after Jacobson was slow off the line in his MW Motorsport Nissan.

Jacobson applied pressure throughout but was not able to beat Dumbrell, who won by 0.3675 seconds.

Kurt Kostecki was third to claim his maiden Super2 podium, having moved past Dumbrell’s team-mate Will Brown on the third lap.

Brown lost another place to Macauley Jones mid-race, that pair finishing fourth and fifth.

All three Kosteckis finished in the top 10, with Brodie seventh and Jake ninth to equal their career-best race results.

They were joined by series returnee Chris Pither in sixth, Paul Morris Motorsport recruit Shae Davies in eighth and Image Racing’s Adam Marjoram in 10th.

Just outside of the top 10, Alex Rullo picked his way through to 11th having started at the rear of the field.

Rullo and team-mate Dean Fiore were excluded from qualifying after MW Motorsport used radiator cooling fans in parc ferme.

Fiore also picked his way through to 13th, Matt Stone Racing’s Bryce Fullwood splitting the Nissans.

Brad Jones Racing’s Zane Goddard was the first rookie home in 16th place, just ahead of Dominic Storey and Tyler Greenbury.

Having qualified inside the top 10, Tickford Racing’s rookie Thomas Randle crashed at Turn 8 on lap three, with a suspected power steering failure a factor.

The second 19-lap race of the 2018 Super2 season opener commences at 10:25am local time.