Alexander wins Winton SuperUtes opener

Holden Colorado driver Tom Alexander claimed a commanding victory in the opening race of Round 2 of the ECB SuperUtes Series at the Winton SuperSprint.

Alexander led from start to finish, making the most of his ARMOR ALL Pole Position and ultimately finishing more than eight seconds clear in the lead.

The win is the Ross Stone Racing driver’s second in the series, accompanying one in the Adelaide season opener.

“After qualifying, we made a change to try and dial out some of the understeer and it seemed to work,” he said.

“I had to hold off Ryal [Harris] for the first lap because he was quick off the start, but I was able to build a gap which I could then manage for the rest of the race.

“It’s awesome to reward Ross and the boys for all their hard work and support.

“We started the season on the back foot with the DNF in Adelaide, so it’s important for us to keep winning races to fight back.”

Ryal Harris was Alexander's closest challenger for most of the race, battling Craig Dontas until the pair came together in the final moments.

The pair collided at Turn 11 on the final lap, spearing off the circuit and gifting Mazda driver Aaron Cameron second and Dakar Rally winner Toby Price third.

“Ryal and Craig were going at it pretty hard so I had a feeling there was going to be an incident – as it turned out, they came together and I did a ‘Bradbury’,” Cameron said.

“The car was good early, but I struggled to stay with Tom, Ryal and Craig in the middle part of the race.”

Harris and Dontas were able to rejoin, with Dontas taking fourth in the factory-backed Mitsubishi Triton and Harris finishing fifth in the EFS 4x4 Racing Mazda BT-50.

Western Sydney Motorsport's Craig Woods took sixth in his Toyota, followed by 16-year-old Tomas Gasperak aboard the second Holden.

Toyota Hilux drivers Matthew MacKelden and Ben Walsh occupied the next two spots, Walsh starting fifth but dropping down the order early due to mechanical issues.

Steve Wilson took 10th aboard his Isuzu D-MAX in his first ever race in SuperUtes, having missed the first event due to engine delays.

Christopher Formosa did not take the start, having encountered rear-end mechanical problems on Friday that followed through to Saturday.

The second race will commence at 9:20am local time on Sunday morning, followed by the third and final race of the weekend at 12:10pm.