Jack Perkins took the spoils in a wet and wild finish to Round 4 of the Dunlop Series at Queensland Raceway.
Showers prior to the start made for an incident-packed race that saw just four of the originally scheduled 14 laps run under green flag conditions.
Pre-race rain had seen teams forced to make a tyre choice gamble while on the grid, with the majority electing for wets.
Starting from second on the grid, Perkins fell to fourth as he ducked to the inside off the start.
Choosing the outside line through Turn 1 provided more grip, however, and helped the Eggleston Motorsport Holden driver to recover to second.
A subsequent dive up the inside of a slick-shod pole-man Dale Wood at Turn 2 then yielded the lead.
From there, Perkins let the drama unfold behind him, controlling two Safety Car restarts – including one with just a single lap remaining – to take the race and round victories.
Steve Owen was almost two seconds adrift at the flag in second, with the two-time series winner narrowly out-dragging a determined Daniel Gaunt on the run to the flag.
Andrew Jones recovered from his Race 2 dramas to take fourth ahead of Casey Stoner, who gained 11 places in the limited laps available. Both Holdens had run the slick tyres and would have been in the box seat had the race run its full distance.
Paul Morris took the flag sixth but was subsequently handed a 27 second post-race penalty for mid-race contact with Wood, dropping the PMM Holden to 26th in the final result.
Wood finished seventh despite the Lap 7 drop-punt at Turn 3 that rotated the MW Motorsport Ford. Race 2 winner Andre Heimgartner was also collected in the incident and wound up 22nd.
Wood's title rival Ash Walsh too found trouble, clashing with Taz Doulas through the high-speed Turn 2 after spending the early laps struggling on his slicks. Both Fords were pitched into the gravel after the hit, with Douglas' entry making the fence.
Wood continues to lead the series over Walsh, with the margin now 128 points.
See below for the full Race 3 result
1 | Eggleston Motorsport | Jack Perkins | Holden Commodore VE | 10 | 17:52.85 |
2 | Sherrin Rentals/MWM | Steve Owen | Ford Falson FG | 10 | 17:54.79 |
3 | Marque Management | Daniel Gaunt | Holden Commodore VE2 | 10 | 17:54.83 |
4 | Advam Racing | Andrew Jones | Holden Commodore VE2 | 10 | 17:55.03 |
5 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Casey Stoner | Holden Commodore VE2 | 10 | 17:55.68 |
6 | CEG Rentals/Go Karts Go | Aaren Russell | Ford Falcon FG | 10 | 17:58.31 |
7 | GB Galvanizing/MWM | Dale Wood | Ford Falcon FG | 10 | 17:58.43 |
8 | Blackchrome Sports & Workwear | Sam Walter | Holden Commodore VE2 | 10 | 17:58.88 |
9 | Icebreak Racing | Chris Pither | Holden Commodore VE2 | 10 | 17:59.56 |
10 | Ozstaff Racing | Kristian Lindbom | Ford Falcon FG | 10 | 18:01.05 |
11 | Linde Material Handling/Enzed | Cameron Waters | Holden Commodore VE2 | 10 | 18:01.18 |
12 | Go Karts Go | Drew Russell | Ford Falcon FG | 10 | 18:01.42 |
13 | Rodney Jane Racing/Sonic | Rodney Jane | Ford Falcon FG | 10 | 18:02.01 |
14 | MiraFlores Estate/MWM | Morgan Haber | Ford Falcon FG | 10 | 18:03.56 |
15 | Rodney Jane Racing/Sonic | Gary Jacobson | Ford Falcon FG | 10 | 18:05.32 |
16 | Finance Ezi Racing | Josh Hunter | Ford Falocon FG | 10 | 18:06.23 |
17 | Warrin Mining Volvo Constructi | Adam Wallis | Holden Commodore VE | 10 | 18:06.63 |
18 | Resi Home Loans | Aaron McGill | Holden Commodore VE2 | 10 | 18:07.16 |
19 | I Seek | George Miedecke | Ford Falcon FG | 10 | 18:07.54 |
20 | R&J Batteries/NDD | Geoff Emery | Holden Commodore VE2 | 10 | 18:08.31 |
21 | Formula Tech/Interquip Racing | Brett Stewart | Holden Commodore VE | 10 | 18:10.57 |
22 | Finance Ezi Racing | Andre Heimgartner | Ford Falcon FG | 10 | 18:12.90 |
23 | Pacific Hoists – Hitachi | Nandi Kiss | Holden Commodore VE | 10 | 18:16.07 |
24 | Gulf Western Oil | Michael Hector | Ford Falcon FG | 10 | 18:22.97 |
25 | Poll Performance | Jim Pollicina | Holden Commodore VE | 10 | 18:23.53 |
26 | Sargent Security Racing | Paul Morris | Holden Commodore VE2 | 10 | 18:24.59 |
27 | Tony D'Alberto Racing | Nick McBride | Ford Falcon FG | 9 | 18:21.81 |
28 | Infants Friend | Ashley Walsh | Ford Falcon FG | 9 | 18:25.58 |
DNF | Image Racing/Arvo | Taz Douglas | Ford Falcon FG | 7 | 13:00.59 |
DNF | Action Racing | Marcus Zukanovic | Holden Commodore VE | ||
DNF | Rev Trans WA | Aaron Tebb | Holden Commodore VE2 |
See below for the full Round 4 result
1 | Jack Perkins | 268 |
2 | Steve Owen | 257 |
3 | Daniel Gaunt | 244 |
4 | Dale Wood | 233 |
5 | Andrew Jones | 182 |
6 | Drew Russell | 178 |
7 | Aaren Russell | 169 |
8 | Casey Stoner | 162 |
9 | Ashley Walsh | 161 |
10 | Andre Heimgartner | 152 |
11 | Sam Walter | 146 |
12 | Chris Pither | 145 |
13 | George Miedecke | 121 |
14 | Paul Morris | 116 |
15 | Cameron Waters | 102 |
16 | Gary Jacobson | 98 |
17 | Nick McBride | 91 |
18 | Rodney Jane | 89 |
19 | Aaron McGill | 87 |
20 | Kristian Lindbom | 82 |
21 | Taz Douglas | 82 |
22 | Adam Wallis | 81 |
23 | Michael Hector | 80 |
24 | Geoff Emery | 76 |
25 | Brett Stewart | 75 |
26 | Jim Pollicina | 74 |
27 | Marcus Zukanovic | 74 |
28 | Morgan Haber | 73 |
29 | Josh Hunter | 65 |
30 | Nandi Kiss | 58 |
31 | Aaron Tebb | 45 |