Closest ever Super2 top four heading to Bathurst
Super2 top four covered by just 90 points
Best leads Allen by 33 points, Wood by 75, and Murray by 90
600 points left to win at Bathurst, Adelaide rounds
A dramatic Sandown round has formed the closest top four ever in the Dunlop Super2 Series heading to Mount Panorama.
Four drivers from three different teams are covered by just 90 points after Sandown, with the Bathurst round the next stop on the calendar.
Zak Best leads Kai Allen by a reduced 33 points, with Sandown round winner Ryan Wood 75 points down. Cooper Murray, who won Race 2, is 90 points down.
Best led by 84 points heading into Sunday's race, but an incident with Zane Morse saw the title fight turn on its head with Best 13th. Murray, Wood and Allen finished first, third and fourth respectively.
The development series has raced for points in every Bathurst round since 2005 bar the non-championship round in 2017.
When it comes to point scores, the top four in 2005 and 2007 were closer, but when adjusted to the 2023 point scoring, this year is by far the closest.
Heading to Bathurst in 2005, Dean Canto led Warren Luff by 18 points, Phillip Scifleet by 30, and Gary MacDonald by 36. When adjusted to 2023 points, Canto would’ve led Luff by 146 points, Adam Macrow by 226, and Scifleet by 242.
The 2007 season, won by Tony D’Alberto, saw D’Alberto lead Michael Caruso by 56 points, Kayne Scott by 78, and Jonathon Webb by 83. When adjusted to 2023 points, D’Alberto would’ve led Caruso by 184 points, Scott by 218, and Webb by 222.
There have been closer margins at the top between the top two; Webb led David Reynolds by 28 points in 2009, and Paul Dumbrell by four over Ashley Walsh in 2014.
The 2020 season had Thomas Randle, Will Brown, Brodie Kostecki and Jayden Ojeda covered by 95 points, but that was only after two rounds in a COVID-affected season.
The 2023 Dunlop Series has been thrilling from the get go, with Murray overtaking Jack Perkins to win on his Super2 debut in Newcastle. A day later, Best won Race 2, with Wood causing a multi-car pile-up.
From Perth onwards, drivers have competed in timed 40-minute races, with Wood scoring a clean sweep at Wanneroo. Come Townsville, and Allen won his first Super2 race before Best passed him to win Race 2.
In eight races, four different drivers have won; Wood (three wins), Best (two), Murray (two) and Allen (one). Six different drivers, meanwhile, have taken a pole position; Wood (two poles), Brad Vaughan (two), and one each for Murray, Best, Allen and Aaron Seton.
Of the top four in the standings, only two — Best and Allen — have raced a Supercar around Mount Panorama. Wood and Murray have had success in Bathurst in Porsches, Wood winning in the 2022 Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge round, and Murray in the 2021 Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia round.
The Dunlop Series will be on track at the Repco Bathurst 1000 on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the event, headlined by two 100km races. The season will conclude at the VAILO Adelaide 500 on November 23-26.
Margin from first to fourth in Super2 heading to Bathurst
36 points: 2005 (after five rounds)*
83 points: 2007 (after five rounds)**
90 points: 2023 (after four rounds)
95 points: 2020 (after two rounds)
174 points: 2022 (after four rounds)
*adjusted to 242 points with 2023 point-scoring system
**adjusted to 222 points with 2023 point-scoring system
