Walsh wins Race 1 as Owen and Stoner tangle

Ash Walsh has officially taken the lead of the Dunlop Series by recording an authoritative victory in Race 1 of Round 2 at Barbagallo.

Walsh led every one of the 18 laps, pulling a two second margin on the pursuing Dale Wood before a late Safety Car closed down his advantage.

The race restarted with three laps to go, with Walsh able to put a full second on Wood over the restart lap before holding that advantage to the flag.

Walsh’s only real scare had come at the first corner, where the right-rear of his Matt Stone Racing Ford made contact with the left-front of Steve Owen’s entry as the pair disputed the top spot.

Owen slowed immediately after the contact and was soon clipped by the passing Casey Stoner on the run to Turn 4.

Stoner rejoined at the rear of the field, eventually finishing 21st, while Owen would take no further part in proceedings.

Kristian Lindbom started from fifth after a two-place grid penalty for a practice indiscretion, and proved the biggest mover in the early part of the race, passing first Cameron Waters and then Taz Douglas to eventually finish third behind Wood.

Douglas held on for fourth ahead of Daniel Gaunt and a struggling Waters, while Paul Morris, Andrew Jones, Jack Perkins and George Miedecke completed the top 10.

The late Safety Car was called to retrieve Andre Heimgartner’s Finance Ezi Ford from the Turn 1 gravel trap. The Kiwi had made contact with fellow Ford driver Nick McBride prior to leaving the circuit.

Miedecke will start Race 2 from pole tomorrow under the reverse top 10 format.

Team-mate Walsh, meanwhile, will attempt to soldier through from 10th with a reduced bank of rubber after damaging two tyres in qualifying.

See below for the full Race 1 result

1	Infants Friend	Ashley Walsh	Ford Falcon FG	21:56.4667	0:58.1684*
2	GB Galvanizing/Wilson Sec.	Dale Wood	Ford Falcon FG	21:57.5654	0:58.5750
3	Ozstaff Racing	Kristian Lindbom	Ford Falcon FG	21:58.0564	0:58.7642
4	Arvo – Image Racing	Taz Douglas	Ford Falcon FG	22:00.1637	0:58.7614
5	Global Security Management	Daniel Gaunt	Holden Commodore VE2	22:01.0124	0:58.8358
6	Linde Material Handling	Cameron Waters	Holden Commodore VE2	22:02.2255	0:58.9087
7	Sargent Security Racing	Paul Morris	Holden Commodore VE2	22:02.5953	0:58.7600
8	Advam Racing	Andrew Jones	Holden Commodore VE2	22:03.0638	0:59.1082
9	Eggleston Motorsport	Jack Perkins	Holden Commodore VE	22:03.5243	0:59.0920
10	I Seek	George Miedecke	Ford Falcon FG	22:04.1121	0:59.1718
11	Rodney Jane Racing	Gary Jacobson	Ford Falcon FG	22:04.4530	0:58.8995
12	Brad Jones Racing	Chris Pither	Holden Commodore VE2	22:04.5732	0:59.2002
13	Go Karts Go	Drew Russell	Ford Falcon FG	22:04.7554	0:59.5140
14	Miraflores Estate Harbour	Morgan Haber	Ford Falcon FG	22:05.2037	0:59.6011
15	Tony D’Alberto Racing	Nick McBride	Ford Falcon FG	22:05.8803	0:59.2420
16	Action Racing	Marcus Zukanovic	Holden Commodore VE	22:06.7632	0:59.5033
17	Rodney Jane Racing	Rodney Jane	Ford Falcon FG	22:07.1055	0:59.4130
18	R&J Batteries/NDD	Geoff Emery	Holden Commodore VE2	22:07.5497	0:59.3909
19	CEG Rentals	Aaren Russell	Ford Falcon FG	22:07.9542	0:59.5842
20	Finance Ezi Racing	Josh Hunter	Ford Falocon FG	22:08.8090	0:59.6284
21	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Casey Stoner	Holden Commodore VE2	22:09.1110	0:59.3082
22	Blackchrome Sports & Workwear	Sam Walter	Holden Commodore VE2	22:09.8550	0:59.7087
23	Gulf Western Oil	Michael Hector	Ford Falcon FG	22:10.6067	0:59.8046
24	Formula Tech/Interquip Racing	Brett Stewart	Holden Commodore VE	22:11.2728	1:00.6241
25	Poll Performance	Jim Pollicina	Holden Commodore VE	22:14.3602	1:00.6246
26	Pacific Hoists & Hitachi	Nandi Kiss	Holden Commodore VE	22:15.4323	1:00.5906
27	Finance Ezi Racing	Andre Heimgartner	Ford Falcon FG	22:12.6152	0:59.6071
DNF	Freightliner	Aaron Tebb	Holden Commodore VE2	11:30.3405	1:00.5398
DNF	Sherrin Rentals MWM	Steve Owen	Ford Falson FG	1:36.7576
DNF	Resi	Aaron McGill	Holden Commodore VE2