The final round of our European tour concluded with a double header, two back to back 26 lap races with a mandatory pit stop and a progressive grid. Qualifying would set the grid for race one and the finishing order for the first race would set the grid for the second.

In qualifying, it was the SSR/Boost Mobile duo of Brodie Kostecki and Jarrad Filsell locking out the front row. Madison Down would plant his TTR commodore in third ahead of rising star, Luke Rosella in his SSR Mustang. Ethan Warren, the second placed man in the championship secured a top five grid position and kept himself in the hunt.

Once again like at the last round, some big names failed to fire a proper shot in qualifying and would start in the pack. Josh Anderson, Ethan Grigg-Gault, Jake Burton, Andrew Gilliam, Richard Hamstead and Jordan Ross among the drivers to disappoint in qualifying.

At the start of race one, Kostecki would once again have problems launching the car off the line, just like at Red Bull Ring Brodie was immensely lucky not to get cleaned up as he sat stationary on the front row as the field streamed by. Filsell had no such issues, jumping to the race lead ahead of Down and Rosella. At the hairpin, it was Down with a massive move on Filsell to eventually take the lead after five or six corners of side by side action. At the conclusion of lap one, it was TTR’s Down, Filsell, Rosella, Bourke, Maloney, Rivera, Warren, Meyers, Anderson and 9ine 5ive Sim sports Dylan Rudd, who is continuing to impress against the big teams.

The race remained relatively quiet up until lap 11 with only a few on track altercations taking place. Pursuit’s Andrew Gilliam earned a penalty for spinning Vendevals Jake Burton from just outside the top 10. Shawn Mcnamara was also unlucky to have an off track excursion, escorted off unintentionally by Luke Mitchinson who was battling to keep his car under control on the exit of turn two.

Lap 11 is where Filsell made a defining move on Down at the hairpin with Rosella in the battle and the whole top eight covered by under three seconds. Rosella made a move for second on the next lap, unable to make it stick but giving Filsell the break he needed. But the train caught right up to the back of Filsell again with Madison making a move on lap 15 but running wide at the hairpin and letting Rosella through for second.

Pitstops would be vital as the undercut in such a tight pack would make you hero or zero. Josh Anderson amongst those who benefited from an early stop to jump a few competitors on track. When the stops had all happened, Filsell would retain the lead ahead of a recovering Down. Anderson had jumped to third on the track whilst Rosella, being the new up and comer amongst hard heads had his ears boxed and funnelled back to eighth.

In the end, Filsell would take the first win of the night for SSR/Boost Mobile Racing Whilst TTR were represented on the podium with both Down and Anderson who made an impressive strategy play in his Cooldrive Mustang. Bourke a big loser in race one, his SSR commodore unloaded amongst a TTR pack at the final turn, things were heating up for the final race of the night.

Filsell and Down on the front row, SSR versus TTR. It was going to be a cracker. Filsell got the jump, but Down was out for blood and made a decisive move on lap one to lead the field. Ethan Grigg-Gault had a fantastic start and put himself deep inside the top 10 battle in his Logitech G ERT Commodore. But it would all come to nothing as Hamstead was caught napping at the hairpin and missed his brake marker, EGG an innocent victim and ruining any chance of a good result. In a cruel blow for the Evolution Racing Team, his teammate Marcello Rivera was also caught up in the incident.

Madison Down and Jarrad Filsell continued to battle, trading paint again on lap four and keeping the following TTR cars in the battle. A pack of five cars at the front formed between Filsell and four TTR cars. Warren exited this group on lap six, trying to pass Filsell on the outside and being escorted to the grass. Anderson and Rosella began to close the gap to the top four cars, whilst Kostecki who started almost last was fighting his way through the pack, picking off cars almost every lap.

By lap 10, Down still had the lead with the top six cars separated by a little over 2.5 seconds. Rudd was in the top 10, showing impressive speed and consistency to hold position whilst Kostecki and Ross who both started off the back had made their way up to 15th and 16th respectively. Gilliam and Hamstead were also both recovering from penalties and made their way to the back of the top 10.

On lap 13, it all kicked off again at the front with Filsell attempting a pass on Down. Madison having none of it would immediately hit back and bring his teammates at TTR along to help him. Jake Maloney made an impressive pass on Filsell in the final sequence of corners and Madison was able to skip away just before the round of pitstops began. Anderson once again was an early stopper, but this time the train pitted a lot later which gave them a big tyre advantage heading into the final part of the race.

By lap 20, and after all the stops had played out it was a sea of TTR cars at the front. Anderson benefitting from the undercut was trying to hold on to his lead but Maloney and Down were chasing him down with a big tyre advantage. Filsell was fifth whilst Rosella followed from a distance. With two laps remaining, it looked like a TTR sweep of the podium, Maloney in third place held a healthy 3.5 second gap over Filsell. A mistake for Jake gifted Jarrad the final podium place with just two laps remaining, while behind a huge battle pack from sixth to 15th had formed, Rudd unlucky not to hold on to a brilliant top 10 position.

As the dust settled and post race penalties concluded, Madison Down and TTR had won the round. A brilliant hit back in the championship and a demonstration of the depth and competitiveness of TTR. Filsell was handed a penalty in race two putting him back to fifth position, whilst Rosella came in fourth. Anderson and Maloney would round out the podium making it a TTR 1-2-3.

The Overall results for the round fall the way of Madison Down with Filsell in second and Anderson rounding out the podium places. It was action packed and there was a lot of paint traded. But now we change tempo as we gear up for the first of our endurance races and welcome 40 co-drivers to the series for the Sandown 500 on the 1st of October. Tune in for a special Saturday evening broadcast to see the next instalment of the Logitech G Pro Invitational Supercar Series.