Dumbrell secures Bathurst Dunlop Series hat-trick

Paul Dumbrell has taken his third consecutive victory in the Dunlop Series 250km mini enduro following an eventful encounter at Mount Panorama.

The Eggleston Motorsport driver made the most of a strong start to jump pole-sitter Garry Jacobson to the lead on the opening lap, which he held until pitting under the Safety Car on lap 10.

The early visit to the pitlane forced Dumbrell into a two stop strategy which proved to be a smart move.

After strong middle stint and a short fuel stop, Dumbrell eventually returned to the lead on lap 37 of 41 as the field completed their pit stops.

The Dunlop Series veteran, who had earlier built up a 7.5s lead, went on to take the victory by 11.3s from Jacobson, while rookie Anton De Pasquale provided an impressive drive to third.

Dumbrell’s victory didn’t arrive without issue as an electrical problem hampered him in the early laps, before a fan managed to tap into his radio frequency during the race.

The Holden driver also ran wide at Turn 1 following his second stop.

A second place finish for Jacobson boosted his championship lead as he mirrored Dumbrell’s pit strategy following a slow start that dropped him third.

A strong surge in the final laps saw Jacobson snatch second spot at The Chase from De Pasquale, who found himself in a strong position after electing to pit twice under the Safety Car.

De Pasquale managed to stretch his fuel to the finish to take third, his best result to date in the Dunlop Series.

The maiden podium came after a mid-race crash at Murrays corner when he made contact with Kurt Kostecki while fighting over the fringes of the top 10.

However, the most dramatic moment of the encounter came when rookie Jack Smith suffered a high speed crash at The Dipper that brought out the Safety Car.

The Paul Morris Motorsport driver locked up at the Esses which fired him hard into the inside wall and then across the track into the outside wall, severely damaging his Falcon.

Luckily the 17-year-old Smith was able to walk away from the incident to the medical car.

Garry Rogers Motorsport driver Richard Muscat came through to finish a strong fourth ahead of Shae Davies, who led the the race until his final stop in latter stages.

Todd Hazelwood was left to rue a stall in pit lane that robbed him of a likely podium chance as he finished in sixth.

The Matt Stone Racing driver would have rejoined close behind Dumbrell if he hadn’t been slow away from the pits.

Jack Le Brocq was unable to make a one stop strategy pay off in seventh after choosing not to pit under the Safety Car.

The top 10 was completed by Andrew Jones, Macauley Jones and Taz Douglas, who shared his Eggelston Motorsport Commodore with Grant Denyer.

Meanwhile, James Golding’s rough weekend continued with a retirement when he clouted the wall with his front right at McPhillamy on lap six.

The Garry Rogers Motorsport driver, who crashed the GRM #34 Volvo in Practice 2 on Thursday, wrecked his front right suspension.

“It was not what we wanted,” said Golding, who was holding ninth spot at the time of the crash.

“I got a bit of aero wash from the car in front and hit the wall. I’m really disappointed for the team but hopefully we can have a better day tomorrow.”

Chelsea Angelo finished two laps down in 20th after an eventful afternoon.

The Matt White Motorsport driver made contact with Matt Chahda that bent her steering early in the race, before then receiving two drive-through penalties for pitlane infringements.

Jacobson has opened up a 151 point lead over Le Brocq ahead of the Dunlop Series finale at Sydney Olympic Park from December 2-4.

Result: Dunlop Series 250km Mini Enduro 

1	Eggleston Motorsport	Paul Dumbrell	Holden Commodore VE2	40	01:35:11.7401
2	Challenger Valve Racing	Garry Jacobson	Ford Falcon FG/X	40	01:35:23.0519
3	Paul Morris Motrosports	Anton de Pasquale	Ford Falcon FG	40	01:35:24.4127
4	Wilson Security PAYCE GRM	Richard Muscat	Holden Commodore VF	40	01:35:24.6857
5	DavBridge Construction / MWM	Shae Davies	Ford Falcon FG	40	01:35:32.6077
6	iSEEK Communications	Todd Hazelwood	Holden Commodore VF	40	01:35:34.5351
7	GoGetta Racing	Jack Le Brocq	Ford Falcon FG/X	40	01:35:35.0288
8	Alliance Truck Parts Racing	Andrew Jones	Holden Commodore VF	40	01:35:41.4226
9	PAYCE	Macauley Jones	Holden Commodore VF	40	01:35:41.8298
10	Eggleston Motorsport	T.Douglas/G.Denyer	Holden Commodore VE2	40	01:36:01.4437
11	STR Towing Equipment	M.Palmer/D.Russell	Ford Falcon FG	40	01:36:28.9435
12	Middys Electrical / MWM	Bryce Fullwood	Ford Falcon FG	40	01:36:32.3518
13	Auto One	Adam Marjoram	Ford Falcon FG	40	01:36:51.6690
14	Kostecki Brothers Racing	Kurt Kostecki	Holden Commodore VF	40	01:37:08.9359
15	Wynns Racing	Josh Kean	Holden Commodore VF	39	01:35:40.7609
16	Castrol Racing/Performance Wes	Alex Rullo	Holden Commodore VF	39	01:35:41.2876
17	Image Racing	Ryal Harris	Ford Falcon FG	39	01:36:15.5702
18	Cavalier Homes	Matthew Chahda	Ford Falcon FG	39	01:36:22.1601
19	Kostecki Brothers Racing	Jake Kostecki	Holden Commodore VF	39	01:36:24.3216
20	Wilson Medic One / MWM	Chelsea Angelo	Ford Falcon FG	36	01:36:02.6754
DNF	Paul Morris Motorsports	Jack Smith	Ford Falcon FG	9	20:16.7728
DNF	Wilson Security PAYCE GRM	James Golding	Holden Commodore VF	6	14:07.0740

Dunlop Series Standings

1	Garry Jacobson	1516
2	Jack Le Brocq	1350
3	Paul Dumbrell	1216
4	Todd Hazelwood	1169
5	James Golding	1128
6	Shae Davies	1100
7	Taz Douglas	1072
8	Andrew Jones	1062
9	Macauley Jones	1027
10	Richard Muscat	950
11	Anton de Pasquale	856
12	Josh Kean	777
13	Adam Marjoram	749
14	Kurt Kostecki	733
15	Mathew Palmer	655
16	Bryce Fullwood	589
17	Jake Kostecki	560
18	Alex Rullo	554
19	Matthew Chahda	513
20	Chelsea Angelo	485
21	Renee Gracie	468
22	Liam McAdam	442
23	Dan Day	249
24	Marcus Zukanovic	198
25	Steve Owen	192
26	Jesse Dixon	168
27	Grant Denyer	156
28	Drew Russell	144
29	Adam Wallis	111
30	Dean Fiore	110
31	Ryal Harris	108
32	Garry Hill	78
33	Jack Smith	0