Lightning strikes twice for Super3 youngsters

Jayden Ojeda became a repeat Kumho Super3 Series round winner at Queensland Raceway, mirroring his Winton breakthrough by capitalising on dramas for Zak Best.

The Anderson Motorsport driver was the big winner as Super3 joined the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship and Dunlop Super2 Series on the Century Batteries Ipswich SuperSprint bill.

As was the case in Round 2 at Winton in May, Best looked to be in prime position to win the Ipswich round by virtue of victories in Races 1 and 2.

However damage suffered during a dramatic opening-lap battle for the lead with fellow young-gun Broc Feeney ended his final race on the opening lap.

It was the second time in two rounds that Best was in the lead of the final only to be denied both a race and round victory; the Benalla driver dominated at Winton before his car failed in the finale.

While Best retired to pitlane with broken suspension, Feeney inherited the lead only to be chased down and passed by Ojeda, who did the same thing in Race 3 at Winton.

The Anderson Motorsport Falcon pulled away in the closing stages to record his second race win of the season and, remarkably, the round victory as well.

Feeney was cleared of any wrongdoing in the incident with Best and finished second overall, becoming the third different championship leader of the season in the process.

Brad Jones Racing driver Josh Fife finished third overall, his first podium finish, and also set a new Queensland Raceway Super3 lap record in what was a promising weekend.

Ojeda, however, was the big winner as he not only won his second straight round, but rocketed into championship calculation in the process.

He now sits second in the standings and 13 points behind Feeney with two rounds to go.

"The Anderson boys gave me a great car," Ojeda said.

"We tweaked it after qualifying and made our way forward.

"There was a bit of misfortune there between Broc and Zak, but later in the race I was able to capitalise on Broc a little bit and get past and I had great car speed in the end.

"It’s a real credit to the boys to the work we put in between rounds."

Ojeda is confident Anderson Motorsport can continue its progression in the remaining two rounds.

"Coming into the weekend, even if we didn’t win we wanted to work our way into the championship fight a little bit and we’ve done that, coming out of the round in second place," he added.

"Hopefully we can progress that in the next couple of rounds."

While Best was naturally gutted following his Race 3 non-finish, the teenager again proved his title credentials with an otherwise dominant weekend.

Victory in Race 2 was Best's fifth of the season and meant he led the standings briefly.

He drops to fourth, one spot behind pre-event points leader Hamish Ribarits, who recorded finishes of sixth, ninth and fifth at Queensland Raceway.

Jim Pollicina clinched the Kumho Cup round for older models, capitalising on a Race 3 clash between Matt Stone Racing team-mates Chris Smerdon and Bradley Neill.

As a result, Pollicina won the round ahead of Jack Sipp, while Neill finished third.

The Kumho Cup standings remain fiercely competitive with Pollicina leading Neill by just seven points, Smerdon a further seven back in third place.

The fourth and penultimate round of the 2019 Kumho Super3 series will be contested at The Bend Motorsport Park, during the OTR SuperSprint on August 23-25.

Points after three of five rounds

1. Broc Feeney 3272. Jayden Ojeda 3143. Hamish Ribarits 2894. Zak Best 2815. Nic Carroll 2286. Josh Fife 2097. Jon McCorkindale 1568. Chris Smerdon 1309. Jim Pollicina 12810. Bradley Neill 119