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Best wins Newcastle finale after pile-up

12 Mar 2023
Race 2 ends under yellow after multi-car crash
2 mins by James Pavey

Zak Best has taken over Dunlop Series honours in Newcastle after winning the crash-shortened Race 2.

Best kicked off his Anderson Motorsport Mustang debut season in style with race and round victory.

The Victorian led the field to the chequered flag after a length Safety Car period caused by a lap 6 pile-up.

  • Click here for Race 2 results

Pole-sitter Ryan Wood crashed at Turn 6 and was hit by Jack Perkins, with others behind crashing in sympathy.

Wood, Perkins, Brad Vaughan, Cameron Crick and Lochie Dalton all failed the finish the race.

For the second time in as many days, the race ran time certain, with Best taking the chequered flag after 15 of 21 scheduled laps.

Aaron Love, Matt Chahda, Jay Hanson and Saturday winner Cooper Murray rounded out the top five.

Best beat Wood to Turn 1 off the start, with the latter slipping to fourth behind Love and Chahda.

After the opening lap, Best led by 1.3s, with Love ahead of Chahda and the recovering Wood.

The race seemed to fall into a rhythm before Wood pirouetted at Turn 6, leading to the multi-car disaster.

Wood lost the rear of his #2 Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore and bounced off the tyres into the path of Perkins.

Perkins picked up major damage and pressed on, but those behind weren’t as lucky.

A lengthy clean-up saw the race come to a close under Safety Car conditions, with Best claiming his fifth Super2 round win.

It tied Best with Tickford Racing main game star Cam Waters, who won five Super2 rounds and, eventually, the title in 2015.

Best also won the 2022 season-opening round in Sydney before finishing second overall.

Cameron McLeod claimed Super3 honours, and was eighth outright, with Jett Johnson was second in class and 12th outright.

Best will carry an 18-point lead over Eggleston Motorsport rookie Murray to the next round in Perth, with Hanson a further 30 points back.

The 2023 Dunlop Series season will resume at Wanneroo Raceway on April 28-30.

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