COOPER CUTTS has stormed through the field to claim a dramatic race and overall victory in Round 3 of First Focus Radical Cup Australia at Shell V-Power Motorsport Park in South Australia.
The West Aussie young gun claimed his second win of the year in a dramatic 45-minute sprint today that saw remarkable swings across its duration and a remarkable six different race leaders.
Peter Paddon recovered from two off-track excursions to take second position while Adam Lisle and Jordan Oon charged to third late in the race.
The race began in cool conditions with the circuit dry but still slippery from an earlier light shower that swept across the circuit during the earlier support races.
An enthusiastic start saw Paddon – who started fourth – leap away from the second row of the grid, committing around the outside of the leading pack to jump to an early race lead.
There was drama behind as both Jordan Oon and Josh Hunt – who started from pole – both spun at turn one, scattering the field.
That allowed Paddon to claim a large early lead with Cutts second and Bryce Moore settling into third, before he passed Cutts on the following lap to slide up to second position.
A Safety Car closed the field up with less than 30 minute remaining in the race, with further drama unfolding on the restart as Paddon led Moore up to turn one – only to be caught out by the conditions and spearing his First Focus entry off the circuit and into the Turn one undergrowth.
A quick recovery saw him drop to the bottom of the top 10, Moore assuming the race lead before the leaders begun making their compulsory pit stops.
The pit stop sequence was not free from drama; pitting from the lead, Bryce Moore handed his Lance East Exotics entry over to Chris Reindler from the lead only for the car to fail to re-start; the duo stranded in the lane as everyone resumed the race.
With stops complete, Terry Knowles assumed the lead from Peter Clare – the Safety Car having allowed Josh Hunt to regain the time lost with the earlier spin – with Cutts in third, Adam Lisle fourth and the recovering Paddon fifth.
Cutts and Paddon were the big movers: the former passing Clare for second with 11 minutes remaining while Paddon snuck past Lisle for fourth place at the 10-minute mark, only to grab Clare at Turn 17 moments later.
While that was going on, Cutts closed on and ultimately passed Knowles for the lead at turn one with nine minutes left in the race – the Arise racer immediately pressing on in clean air in order to build a safety margin over the ever-closing Paddon.
Paddon grabbed Knowles for second with five minutes to go, however with Cutts clear in the lead his march ended there.
In a repeat of Saturday’s intensity, the pair then traded fastest laps in the battle for the lead though this time Cutts was leading the way, ultimately powering home for his second win of the season by just under four seconds.
Paddon’s remarkable recovery ensured him second and minimized any loss in championship points to his nearest title rival while a late race pass by Adam Lisle saw him slice past Terry Knowles for third place within sight of the flag.
Clare and Hunt finished a stout fifth, Brad Russell was a strong sixth to cap off a solid weekend while it was a similar story for Greg Kenny and Melinda Price – the Volante Rosso duo in seventh.
Adam Naccarata, Ash Samadi and Sue Hughes completed the top-10 at the end of an eventful race.
Overall, provisional results had Cutts claiming the round victory over Paddon, with Mawer and Knowles on the podium in third place.