Dontas, Woods pick up V8 SuperUtes wins in Tasmania

Craig Dontas won Race 1 before Craig Woods prevailed in Race 2 in Round 1 of the Haltech V8 SuperUte Series at Symmons Plains.

Dontas led the latter 10 of 16 laps and took the Race 1 chequered flag seven tenths of a second clear of Sieders Racing Team stablemate Aaron Borg, with Woods rounding out the top three after an eventful morning.

Woods had qualified on pole position but found himself trailing Borg and George Gutierrez as they negotiated Turn 2 for the first time, although he managed to round up the latter at the Hairpin later that lap.

He was back at the head of the field when he eventually forced his way past Borg at the start of Lap 2, but also made room for Dontas to take over second position when he did so.

Dontas went down the inside of Woods at Turn 6 on Lap 6, put more than second on the field in the next two laps, and went on to clinch victory with a margin of 0.7s over the rest.

Some of that gap was down to a big moment which Woods had as he exited the Hairpin on Lap 7, the #64 Toyota Hilux fishtailing all over the road but somehow brought back under control in the end.

The Western Sydney Motorsport driver dropped from second to fifth as a result, but was never out of the fight for the minor placings.

He would in fact soon find himself in a battle for third with Gutierrez, making the decisive pass at the end of Lap 12 and going on to finish 1.2s behind Borg.

Gutierrez, Ben Walsh, and Jaiden Maggs were next in the order, and hence at the front when the top six was reversed to set the starting grid for Race 2.

Walsh got the jump for that one but it was not long before team-mate Woods had made his way to second position, and then caught Car #8 by the end of Lap 4.

He elbowed his way through as they rounded Turns 6 and 7 on Lap 5, seconds before a Safety Car was called because Rohan Barry had spun into the gravel at Turn 2.

The restart came on Lap 8, and it was on Lap 10 when Walsh dropped a wheel off exiting Turn 2, which caused him to cede position to Dontas and Borg.

Those three then became embroiled in a big battle for second place which was ultimately resolved in favour of Borg.

After 20 laps, he took the chequered flag 1.4s behind Woods, who bagged his first SuperUtes race win since the final round of the diesel era, in Newcastle in 2019.

Dontas wound up third, from Walsh and Gutierrez.

In Round 2 of the Battery World Aussie Racing Cars Super Series, Josh Anderson had a narrow victory over Cody Brewczynski in Race 1, before Tom Hayman won Race 2 by more than 11 seconds.

Both categories will be back in action with two more races each tomorrow at the Ned Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint.

Results: Race 1

Pos	Num	Team/Sponsor	Driver	Vehicle	Laps	Race time
1	45	Ryco 24.7	Craig Dontas	Mitsubishi Triton	16	16:47.1659
2	4	Sieders Racing Team	Aaron Borg	Holden Colorado	16	16:47.8805
3	64	Western Sydney Motorsport	Craig Woods	Toyota Hilux	16	16:49.0554
4	19	Go Sunny Solar	George Gutierrez	Holden Colorado	16	16:50.4849
5	8	Western Sydney Motorsport	Ben Walsh	Toyota Hilux	16	16:51.4612
6	96	World’s Best Technology	Jaiden Maggs	Mitsubishi Triton	16	16:53.2816
7	88	Abcore racing	Rohan Barry	Toyota Hilux	16	16:58.6928
8	72	NHP Electrical Engineering	Layton Barker	Mitsubishi Triton	16	16:59.1761
9	74	Peters Motorsport	Richard Mork	Mazda BT-50	16	17:26.6319
10	49	Allgate Motorsport	Chris Formosa	Ford Ranger	16	17:26.7368
11	5	Bendix Racing	David Casey	Isuzu D-MAX	16	17:27.7295
12	76	Best Leisure Industries	Ellexandra Best	Mitsubishi Triton	15	16:55.9095
13	50	Craig Jenner Racing	Craig Jenner	Mazda BT-50	15	17:16.7744
DNF	52	Gates JKD Racing Team	Dean Brooking	Toyota Hilux	12	13:59.2251
DNF	3	Sieders Racing Team	Harry Gray	Ford Ranger	6	6:23.7488

Results: Race 2

Pos	Num	Team/Sponsor	Driver	Vehicle	Laps	Race time
1	64	Western Sydney Motorsport	Craig Woods	Toyota Hilux	20	22:42.2289
2	4	Sieders Racing Team	Aaron Borg	Holden Colorado	20	22:44.6234
3	45	Ryco 24.7	Craig Dontas	Mitsubishi Triton	20	22:46.9141
4	8	Western Sydney Motorsport	Ben Walsh	Toyota Hilux	20	22:47.5022
5	19	Go Sunny Solar	George Gutierrez	Holden Colorado	20	22:47.7011
6	3	Sieders Racing Team	Harry Gray	Ford Ranger	20	22:52.5457
7	96	World’s Best Technology	Jaiden Maggs	Mitsubishi Triton	20	22:52.9877
8	74	Peters Motorsport	Richard Mork	Mazda BT-50	20	23:11.1623
9	72	NHP Electrical Engineering	Layton Barker	Mitsubishi Triton	20	23:11.5080
10	5	Bendix Racing	David Casey	Isuzu D-MAX	20	23:19.9921
11	52	Gates JKD Racing Team	Dean Brooking	Toyota Hilux	19	22:46.8780
DNF	49	Allgate Motorsport	Chris Formosa	Ford Ranger	17	19:52.4541
DNF	88	Abcore racing	Rohan Barry	Toyota Hilux	9	13:28.1895
DNF	76	Best Leisure Industries	Ellexandra Best	Mitsubishi Triton	8	10:14.0525