Best's four-pronged focus to take out Super2 title
Dunlop Series
18 Oct
Zak Best leads going into a Dunlop Series finale for the first time
Best is 33 points ahead of Eggleston Motorsport's Kai Allen
The Anderson Motorsport driver has seven top three finishes in 10 starts
Qualify at the front, win races, make no mistakes and finish in front of Kai Allen — that’s Zak Best’s three-pronged focus for Adelaide as he hunts an elusive Dunlop Series crown.
Best is in the box seat to take out this year’s Super2 title, with the Anderson Motorsport driver 30 points ahead of Eggleston Motorsport rival Allen.
The Victorian has led the points since Race 2 in Newcastle, and while the margin has fluctuated, Best has held onto the orange numbers.
Best has won just two of the season’s race — in Newcastle and Townsville — but five additional top three finishes have kept him out of reach of his rivals. He hasn’t had it all his own way, having to recover from 10th to seventh in Perth, and 19th to eighth in Townsville.
However, the biggest damage was done at Sandown, where he crawled to 12th after being spun out by Zane Morse. In one fell swoop, Allen slashed Best's lead at the top from 84 to 33 points.
Best was by far and away the quickest over one lap at Mount Panorama, but was undone by two errors — a mistake at The Chase handed the Race 1 win to Aaron Love, before being penalised over a false start in Race 2.
The biggest difference this year, however, is that Best — who finished runner-up in 2021 and 2022 — leads the way heading to the final round of the season, something the 22-year-old believes is a key advantage.
In the last two seasons, Best trailed the points leader heading to the last round, and was unable to overhaul them on both occasions.
“Just gotta keep winning races, that’s the main thing,” Best said after the Bathurst finale.
“At least this year, I’m going in with the points lead not chasing, so it’s probably an advantage.
“Hopefully we can bring it home this year, we’ve been so close the last two years, I just want to get it done.”
When asked later about his approach to Adelaide, he said: “Definitely no mistakes, that’s the biggest thing.
“I have got to be on the front row and win races and make sure I’m in front of Kai."
Best led the Bathurst finale from start to finish, but was classified second behind Allen due to a five-second penalty for a jump start. With Allen within five seconds, the race and round victory headed to Eggleston Motorsport.
The #17 Ford was still the benchmark, although Best was unable to capitalise on his pace due to fuel management. Fuel issues would cost Morse victory, with Best revealing he ran out of fuel on the cool down lap.
“Having to fuel-save in a Dunlop Series race is not something I would’ve thought I’d be doing, it’s pretty unusual,” said Best, who finished sixth in the Great Race with James Courtney.
“I was max fuel-saving pretty much every lap, and Zane was pushing me along all the way… it just made things more difficult.
“You can’t actually use the raw speed the car had that we showed in qualifying, so it definitely made it a lot tougher.
“That’s probably one of the toughest races we’ve had in the Dunlop Series this year… it was pretty tight, we ran out as soon as we got back to the garage."
The Dunlop Series will conclude at the VAILO Adelaide 500 on November 23-26.
