Erebus Academy’s Jobe Stewart has secured his ninth podium of the year, crossing the line in second during the opening race at Mt Panorama this afternoon.
Unfortunately, the Super2 teammates both sustained DNF’s after Jay Hanson hit the wall at Reid Park and Jack Perkins suffered damage from an earlier incident that resulted in a so far unknown mechanical issue.
Having qualified P6, Jay got a fantastic start and managed to slot himself into P4 by the first corner and into P3 by the second corner, while Jack maintained his P9 qualifying position.
Meanwhile, Jobe, who had qualified P2, was able to close the single car gap to Super3 leader Cameron McLeod on the opening lap to sit directly behind him.
By lap 3, Jay had confidently built a 3 second gap between himself and Cooper Murray in fourth, while Jack was getting pushed around the mid pack to now sit P10.
Two laps later, Jobe was sitting right behind McLeod looking for the opportunity to pass but before he got the chance, Super2’s Cameron Crick slotted in between them making the chance at P1 that much harder.
Midway through the race on lap 9, Jay was holding his highest Super2 position on the year in P3, unfortunately a big hit to the wall at Reid Park saw Jay stumbling back to the pits where the car would remain until the flag was waved.
The following lap, Jack suffered the same fate after a failure associated with previous damage saw him drop from P10 to the back of the field and parked in the pits.
With Jobe the last of the Academy cars on track, he continued to maintain P2 with Crick still separating himself and McLeod but was unable to progress when a final lap Safety Car was called.
With repairs underway, all three drivers are set to return to the track for Dunlop Series qualifying tomorrow morning commencing at 8.55AM AEDT.