BACK TO BACK ALTUS ENDURANCE CUP VICTORIES!
The second race of the V8 SCOPS Premier Series Endurance Cup would take place at the traditional Phillip Island circuit. Having taken victory at the first race in the hands of James Scott and Sam Blacklock, they looked strong once again taking a second successive pole position.
Blacklock had a tremendous launch and began the race strongly, however teammate Cooper Webster made up the ground and was able to make the pass mid way through the opening stint to take the lead for the first time. Simon Feigl too had made a move up to P7 however had an awkward tangle to drop off the circuit at Siberia losing valuable time.
Altus & V8 SCOPS debutant Ryan Wood took over the #83 from Feigl during the second safety car phase, however now sitting in P31 had lots of work to be done. The Scott/Blacklock car was tagged and turned around at Honda, dropping them to the back and with a damaged #088. They would struggle to recover and come home in P14.
With Webster and Jordan Caruso in the effective lead on fuel strategy, there was a breath taking battle with Synergy Sim Racing‘s Jackson Souslin Harlow and Caruso, with JSH able to hold onto the lead for the time being before Caruso undercut the #143 to break free to clear air. Caruso would lead home a first ever Endurance Cup victory for Webster and Caruso.
It was a similar story with Wood, who did two undercutting pit stops in a row relative to their competitors to vault up the order to P5 with the final stint to go, and were able to pass on the track the TTR and United SSR cars to sit in the podium place before managing a fuel deficit to bring the #83 home in third place.
It was a tough race for Hanlin and Danson in the end, however Danson accumulated valuable V8 miles ahead of the great race next up!
Overall it was an excellent race for the team, with a double podium finish for the second successive race, and a starring display from debutant Ryan Wood to take a podium in his first V8 SCOPS race.
Next up… the Bathurst 1000 in a few weeks!
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