NSW drivers Luke Harrison and Shaun Boland have teamed up to win the HQ Holden Crocodile Cup endurance race, held at Round 2 of the Hi-Tec Oils Super Series at Hidden Valley today.
After starting on pole position and dominating the sprint races, Boland led the opening stanza of the race, extending a sizeable margin over the field before taking his first tyre change pit stop.
However, a slow stop, combined with a drive-through penalty for a pit lane infringement, saw Boland slipping down the order.
Some rapid times from both Boland and Harrison enabled the duo to reclaim the ascendancy heading into the race’s final stanza, but they were dealt a further headache when their car ran low on fuel in the last 10 minutes, Harrison having to slow down dramatically in order to conserve every last drop.
Ultimately, they won the race by just five seconds from the Darren Jenkins/Adam Butler entry after a late pass from Jenkins on Tony Moloney. Moloney and Rob Braune held on for the final spot on the podium, narrowly edging out Darwin locals David and Steven Ling.
Dylan Thomas and Tim Brook have been declared the winners of the opening TA2 Kings of the North two-driver race, a drama-filled affair that contained two Safety Cars and a red flag interruption; other results remain provisional pending post-race investigations.
The Thomas/Brook car was advantaged by being one of the first cars to pit under the race’s first Safety Car, caused when the Adam Hargraves/Daniel Jilesen entry stopped at Turn 3. The second Safety car was created by an incident for Aaron Tebb in Turn 10, and at the subsequent restart there was a tangle between Jordan Cox and Andrew Fisher on the main straight, causing the red flag.
The race restarted with just two laps to go, Brook prevailing in an intense dash to the finish.
Earlier in the day, the Driver A sprint race was won by Nathan Herne after a close battle with Josh Haynes, while Brook took out the Driver B race.
Tim Playford dominated the day’s two NAMSC Combined Sedans/Australian Super TT races in his Mazda 808, driving to a pair of decisive race victories from Stephen Johnstone (VN Commodore). Michael Ricketts finished as the highest-placed of the Super TT drivers, bringing his Nissan Pulsar home in an impressive third outright, while David Ling was the best of the Commodore Cup drivers in each race.
In the NT Excels, Zac Hannon prevailed in both races after a couple of close battles with Liam Hall; Tyson Mattiazzo finished third in Race 1 but was narrowly edged out by Lachlan Sohn in Race 2.
The Hi-Tec Oils Super Series action resumes in Darwin tomorrow.
Tickets
Tickets for the event can be purchased online here
Broadcast details – Monday, 1 May
9:30am-12:30pm – Live streaming via Hi-Tec Oils Super Series Facebook page and website
1:00pm-4:00pm – Live television on SBS and Fox Sports/Kayo
Online Channels