Best penalty hands Allen Super2 points lead

AN incident for Zak Best in Race 1 at the Adelaide 500 has handed rival Kai Allen the Super2 Series lead heading into Sunday’s finale.

Polesitter Ryan Wood overcame a fast-starting Nash Morris to control a 40-minute race punctuated by two Safety Car periods.

The Walkinshaw Andretti United driver held off Cooper Murray in a three-minute sprint to the finish to take an impressive victory.

Allen and Best took the chequered flag third and fourth respectively, but a 15-second time penalty dumped the latter to 14^th outright and 13^th among the Super2 runners.

The duo engaged in a head-to-head contest during the race, swapping places while both running behind Morris.

Allen eventually cleared Morris before Best came unstuck trying to do the same, bumping the second-generation driver wide at Turn 5 and earning himself a penalty.

The results have turned Best’s 30-point lead into a 33-point deficit heading into Sunday’s second and final race, where 150 points are up for grabs.

Best’s penalty lifted Cameron Crick to fourth in the race result, giving Eggleston Motorsport a 2-3-4 finish.

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Aaron Seton drove smartly through a typically action-packed race to nab fifth ahead of Jordan Boys, Lochie Dalton, the recovering Morris, Aaron Cameron and Zach Bates.

Teammate to Wood at WAU, Bates had run as high as third early before being elbowed wide in a bold move by a hard-charging Murray.

Aaron Love finished 11^th despite being spun into the wall at the exit of Turn 6 mid-race, contact from Bates having come amid a frantic mid-field battle.

Cam McLeod won Super3 honours with 12^th outright, while fourth in class was enough to secure Jobe Stewart the third-tier title.

The race’s first Safety Car was called on the opening lap to retrieve Jordyn Sinni’s Commodore from the Turn 5 gravel trap.

The second came with just under 10 minutes on the clock, after Mason Kelly spun into the wall at Turn 7 and bounced into the path of a luckless Zane Morse.

Sunday’s Dunlop Series decider will take place at 1:20pm local time.

RESULTS: Race 1, Dunlop Series, 2023 Adelaide

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