Dalton dominates Perth Super2 opener

Lochie Dalton has flexed his championship mettle to win the opening race of Round 3 of the 2026 DUNLOP Super2 Series in Perth.

It was another complete performance from the series leader, who led every lap and claimed the fastest lap to win his third race in five starts this season.

The Blanchard Racing Team driver has provisionally extended his series lead over Campbell Logan to 105 points approaching the halfway mark of the season.

Dalton converted his outside front row start as polesitter Aaron Love flared into wheelspin off pole, whilst Nash Morris and Ryan Tomsett locked horns at Turn 1 disputing seventh.

Tomsett's Anderson Motorsport teammate Zak Best wouldn't even make it through two laps, as a catastrophic front left suspension failure spat a furious Best into the sand at Turn 6.

That brought on an early appearance from the Shannons Safety Car, with Dalton leading Love, Ben Gomersall, Campbell Logan, and Reuben Goodall.

Dalton led the field back to green to start lap 8, with some 25 minutes still on the clock, with Matt Hillyer diving down the inside of Bailey Sweeny for ninth at Turn 1.

There was a big dice at the tail of the field with Matt Chahda and Ayrton Hodson heading an angry pack, but Chahda was spun to the tail of the field after contact with Cody Burcher.

However, debutant Lincoln Taylor was into the back of Burcher, with the second Matt Chahda Motorsport Commodore picking up a 15 second penalty for the incident that spun the sister Holden.

At the front of the field, Love wasn't letting Dalton get away, the gap not expanding to more than half a second as the trio of Tickford Fords began to drift away.

Eventually, Dalton was able to pull away, with the front of the field proving stable as the battle at the tail of the field continued to rage on.

Burcher was on the recovery trail having had to dip through the sand to avoid the spun Chahda, with the #36 Eggleston Commodore working its way back into the top 15 on the 26th lap.

Chahda also worked his way back out of last as Tommy Smith ran off at Turn 1, bringing a heap of dirt back onto the circuit. Smith was forced to bring the #16 Holden back to pit lane to clear the front air intakes.

In the last five minutes, Gomersall and Logan closed up on Love, forming a three-way fight for second, as Dalton's gap remained consistent at one and a half seconds.

But, the top end of town remained status quo from the restart through the chequered flag, with Dalton claiming his third win in five races by 1.3s.

Love was a fine second on return, with Gomersall the first Tickford Mustang home. Logan, Goodall, Brad Vaughan, Morris, Tomsett, Elliott Cleary, and Sweeny rounded out the top 10.

The DUNLOP Super2 Series kick off their Sunday schedule with Boost Mobile Qualifying at 9:50am local time/11:50am AEST.