A 15 minute qualifying session set the tone for proceedings on Wednesday night, with the returning Jarrad Filsell snatching a commanding pole position over Trans Tasman Racing’s Brady Meyers, along with championship contenders Madison Down & James Scott lining up 3rd & 4th on the grid. Dylan O’Shea would round out the top 5, followed by Dylan Rudd, Jake Burton, Josh Anderson, Rehan Liyanage & Andrew Gilliam round out the top ten.

As the green flag waved, it would be Brady Meyers winning the start over pole sitter Jarrad Filsell on the run into turn 1. Brady would play on the defence through the opening sequence of corners, keeping the fast pairing of Filsell & Scott at bay for the time being.

Action came thick and fast throughout the field on the opening lap, contact between Synergy Sim Racing’s Tom Freer & Evolution Racing Team’s Ethan Grigg Gault causing chaos for the field behind. With a number of cars involved in the incident, this was just a preview to the action that was set to follow.

For Meyers, his staunch defence of the race lead came under attack at the conclusion of lap 1. Filsell with a run, pounced on an opening as they approached the turn 12 complex. Making his way past, an opening also appeared for James Scott, who also advanced him position, moving into 2nd place. Team tactics were evident early on from the SSR pairing, Filsell sidestepping turn 1 to allow Scott through to the lead at the beginning of lap 2.

As the field found their rhythm, it was evident the pace of the lead train was like no other, for Filsell and Scott, they continued to open up their gap to the TTR duo of Meyers & Down, who were putting in solid strings in 3rd & 4th respectively.

Further down the order, drivers who where putting in strong opening stints included the likes of Marcello Rivera, Brenton Hobson & Richard Hamstead, who all found a way to make progress up the grid in the opening stages of the race.

Lap 18 proved to be a crucial point of the race for the championship. A blown motor for Evolution Racing Team’s Matthew Bowler Brought out the only safety car period of the evening, throwing more chaos into the works.

Drivers took the opportunity to transit the pit lane for the first of 2 compulsory pit stops, taking on fuel and a fresh set of tyres to boot. As drivers exited the lane, it became apparent that the strategy could be blown wide open, with a number of drivers opting to transit the lane for a second consecutive time, taking on more fuel and clearing their final compulsory pit stop. Although those who chose to pit again would be short on fuel, it provided them with the opportunity to fuel save their way to the flag, without the added stress of having to complete their another pit stop.

TTR made a clear decision as a team, coming down the lane again to clear their pit stops for the evening. This strategy soon turned into the clear winning strategy, with more than half the field making the same decision to take their final pit stops.

For the SSR duo of Scott & Filsell, this would prove to be yet another critical strategic error in their 2023 championship campaign, putting themselves out of the equation to win the race, and more importantly swinging the odds back in Madison Down’s favour. Although maintaining track position at the front of the field, they had a mountain to climb from here.

Racing resumed on lap 22 with Scott leading the field back to green.

Lap 27 would see a spike in the action, with Brady Meyers & Dylan O’Shea getting tangled up down at turn 12. Meyers, putting a move on O’Shea, would find contact with the rear of the #19 9ine 5ive SimSports mustang, sending it into a spin on the exit of the turn 12 complex. Meyers was unfortunate to pick up a 5 second penalty for the contact, which would play into the finishing result massively at the end of the race.

While Scott was continuing to set the pace at the front of the field, the championship fight between SSR & TTR became incredibly ugly on lap 28. Synergy Sim Racing’s Jarrad Filsell fell back and quickly started making life difficult for the following pack in an effort to help James Scott build a gap at the front. This ultimately backfired, with a hard nosed Jake Moloney putting a end to Filsell’s defensive attempts, slamming into the back of the Synergy Sim Racing commodore, taking both drivers out of the race. Contact between both parties were deemed deliberate, resulting in a disqualification for both drivers, followed up with post race bans being applied.

Tensions grew again only laps later on lap 32 in the battle between Luke Rosella & Jake Burton a through turn 9. Burton managing to pass Rosella into turn 8, checked up on the run into turn 9, forcing Rosella to take avoiding action, placing himself in a 3 wide situation. Championship leader Madison Down was on the outside, an innocent victim in the carnage that was happening before him. Somehow, Down was able to keep control of his car, staying on the road after major contact with the 55 of Rosella, which saw the Synergy Sim Racing Commodore in the sand and out of contention.

The final pit stops were made by those that didn’t double pit under safety car on laps 35 & 36, Gilliam bringing his Altus Esports Mustang down the lane from 2nd, soon followed by James Scott a lap later pitting from the lead before re joining back onto the circuit in a lowly 18th position wondering what could of been.

Back at the front, Meyers lead, followed by Jake Burton, Madison Down, Josh Anderson & Adam Briggs who rounded out the top 5 in his Synergy Sim Racing Mustang.

This train remained line astern until the Chequered flag, with Meyers crossing the line in first but with a 5 second time penalty which would drop him to 8th place post race.

Jake burton would step aside for Madison Down, promoting the TTR driver and championship leader to another race win in the 2023 season, extending Down’s championship lead over James Scott to 67 points heading into the final round of the championship in little under a fortnight’s time.

Burton would take second, followed by Joshua Anderson rounding out all TTR podium. Adam Briggs would continue his redemption after a tough endurance campaign in 4th, a career best result for the SSR stalwart. Richard Hamstead continued the TTR dominance in a solid 5th place. The remaining of the top ten saw Dylan O’Shea, Brenton Hobson, Brady Meyers, Tom Freer & Jack Boyd rounding out the top ten.