John Bowe has taken victory in the opening Touring Car Masters race at Queensland Raceway today.
Pole-sitter and series leader Bowe stretched his final winning margin to almost three seconds ahead Jim Richards, who took an early lead until overhauled by Bowe.
Bowe was pleased with a hard-fought win.
“It was a good race win – it was flat out all the way with our cars quite evenly matched,” Bowe said.
“Neither of us made a good start and I think I benefited through Andrew (Miedecke) being there to keep him busy.
“The car has been getting better again this weekend, but I think we still have some room to improve and having done a lot of laps up here it's always nice to take a win for the followers.”
Andrew Miedecke stayed in touch with the leaders but could do little to get within a genuine striking distance. The Chevrolet Camaro driver set the fastest lap of the race.
Torana driver Tony Edwards made up a number of places during the race to take fourth, leading home Keith Kassulke, Les Walmsley, Eddie Abelnica (Ford Falcon XB), debutant Greg Crick and Tony Karanfilovski.
Brett Youlden, battling an illness, rounded out the top 10.
Two Touring Car Masters races will be held at Queensland Raceway tomorrow.
See below for Speedcafe.com's Coates Hire Ipswich 300 Race Guide