Motorcraft Mustang Cup Australia hit Queensland Raceway for round 3 of the championship, with an 11-car grid bolstered by the addition of 16-year-old Oliver Wickham in a second Triple Eight Race Engineering entry sponsored by Shaw and Partners, and a debut for Patrick Neville in the #92 Stroud Homes Toowoomba entry.
Saturday’s action saw qualifying and Race 1, with Josh Anderson continuing his great form in the #94 Clean Vibes Multispares Mustang Dark Horse R, taking Pole for Saturday’s race with a 1:14.443. The top 4 were closely matched, with Joe Fawcett’s #23 in second, then the Shaw and Partners pair, Wickham’s #88 ahead of Perkins in the #888 – all within 2 tenths of the pole time.
Anderson led the field off the line for Saturday’s Race start, and managed to hold the attacks of Wickham and Perkins at bay to lead through the opening lap. Further down the order, Imogen Radburn clipped the kerb at the high-speed Turn 2 and spun the #29 Radburn Racing Team Dark Horse Mustang, but got the car headed in the right direction and continued.
The race settled into a rhythm, with Anderson leading the pair of Shaw and Partners Mustangs – Perkins’ #888 from Wickham’s #88 – with Fawcett just behind. Wickham started to up his pace, making a number of nibbles on the back of Perkins’ car, before finally making the pass for second place at the Turn 6 hairpin.
By that point, Anderson was already 3 seconds up the road. Despite smoke starting to trickle from the #94 Clean Vibes Multispares Racing Mustang in the late stages of the race, Anderson was able to manage his pace and brought the #94 home to claim his third win in succession.
Series debutant Wickham finished second, bringing the #88 home ahead of his Shaw and Partners team-mate Perkins in the #888. Fawcett was 4th in the #23 Joe Fawcett Motorsports car, while Josh Trappett completed the top 5 in the #95 Ryan McLeod Racing machine.
Winning Dark Horse Legends was the #93 Ryan McLeod Racing machine of John Goodacre, in 6th overall.
Sunday’s running saw Mustang Cup Qualifying open track action for the day, with overnight rain dampening the circuit for the Mustang Cup runners. As the session progressed and track conditions improved, it was Josh Anderson who once again nailed the lap to take pole in the #94 Clean Vibes Multispares Racing Mustang. He was joined on the front row once again by Joe Fawcett in the #23, while the Shaw and Partners pair of Perkins and Wickham once again locked out the second row.
It was once again Anderson who got the jump off the line in the #94 Clean Vibes Multispares Mustang, leading the field through turns 1 and 2. However, Perkins had also gotten a great launch, and put the #888 Shaw and Partners Mustang down the inside of Anderson on the run into turn 4. The pair went side by side, and again through Turn 5, forcing Anderson onto the wet outside kerb on the exit of Turn 5. The car snapped sideways, and in correcting the slide, Anderson spun to the infield, becoming stranded on the sodden grass.
Further down the field, Imogen Radburn and Patrick Neville came to blows, with contact between the rear right of the #29 Radburn Racing car and the front left of Neville’s Stroud Homes Toowoomba machine spinning the #29 across the circuit. As Neville went around the outside in an attempt to avoid the spinning Radburn, Radburn’s car speared into the side of Neville’s Mustang, ripping the rear bumper off the #29 and breaking the front-right of the #92.
While Radburn was able to get around to the pits and continue the race, Neville’s #92 was too badly damaged, and he retired in the pits.
After Anderson was recovered from the soggy infield, the call was made to go back to green. Unfortunately, that call was delayed due to another incident for Anderson. While catching back up to the Safety Car train, Anderson ran off the road at Turn 3, ending up buried deep in the gravel trap, forcing Race Control to extend the Safety Car period to recover the #94 Clean Vibes Mustang a second time.
Perkins led the field away on the restart, with Josh Trappett behind in the #95 Ryan McLeod Racing car, followed by the second of the Shaw and Partners Mustangs – the #88 of Oliver Wickham. Wickham was immediately onto the back of Trappett, making the move for second place at Turn 3, and quickly closing the gap to Perkins out front.
It didn’t take long for Wickham to pounce, setting up a move out of Turn 6 to take the inside at Turn 1, taking the lead of the race in the process.
The battle was also on for third, with the #23 Joe Fawcett Motorsport car all over the back of Trappett for the last step on the podium. Fawcett made the move around the outside of Turn 3, but a lap later ran off the road at Turn 1 and damaged his front splitter in the process. With the damage, Fawcett struggled with the front of the car, before making the same mistake again and allowing Trappett through to take the position late in the race.
But there was no stopping Wickham out front, with the #88 Shaw and Partners driver taking a debut win in a form finish with his more experienced team mate; the #888 Shaw and Partners Mustang of Perkins a comfortable second place.
Trappett held onto third in the #95 Ryan McLeod Racing Cars Mustang, while Fawcett finished fourth, and the #55 Betta Marquee Mustang of Matthew Kiss rounded out the top 5.
Imogen Radburn recovered to 6th place in the #29 Radburn Racing Team car, passing Brock Giblin late in the race; the #47 Link Signs Racing driver finishing in 7th.
The Dark Horse Legends category once again went to John Goodacre, finishing 8th overall in the #93 Ryan McLeod Racing Mustang, ahead of the #91 Wheels FX Racing machine of Keith Kassulke in 9th.
Rounding out the field was the series-leading #94 Clean Vibes Multispares Racing car of Josh Anderson, who finished 6 laps down after his difficult Sunday.
After three rounds of the championship, Anderson maintains his lead in the Motorcraft Mustang Cup Australia, with 270 points. Joe Fawcett sits in second on 237, while Jack Perkins has moved into third after two strong rounds at The Bend and Queensland Raceway.
Motorcraft Mustang Cup Australia resumes for Round 4 on the 24th-26th of July at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, as part of the Shannons Speedseries weekend.
