ELLIOTT SCHUTTE claimed a tense victory in Race 1 of the Radical Cup Australia at The Bend Motorsport Park, leading home Caleb Sumich and Chris Perini in a tight, 45-minute race.
From the start the pressure was on for Schutte as teammate Sumich was right on his tail. Race pace was important for Schutte, who managed to keep his teammate behind him for the duration of the race.
Schutte completed his compulsory pitstop with no issues, and came out in front of race rival Sumich.
“It was tense, lots of pressure from Caleb,” Schutte outlined,
“I made a few mistakes, but yeah pulled through in the end, feels good.”
The race started under cloudy, but dry conditions. The rolling start had all cars barrelling into turn one, but all cars made it through scratch-free. Schutte lead the tight pack through the opening stages of the race.
The race was a clean one with the safety car no where in sight, however some mid-field battles also kept the duration of the race very entertaining.
The Hughes Motorsport entry driven by Sue Hughes found itself in a competitive battle with RA Motorsports James Hernandez throughout the early stages of the race.
The compulsory 60-second pit stop was smooth for all drivers expect for John-Paul Drake, who had some mechanical dramas with the rear of the number 30 Taylor Collison entry.
This ultimately lead to the early retirement for the car and a disappointed Drake.
Championship leader Chris Perini finished the race in third position, not gaining any positions from his qualifying result. Fellow championship rival - currently sitting second - Peter Carr / Peter Paddon, also finished the race in their qualifying position, in fourth.
Steven Champion finished a stout fifth outright, with SA Radical rookie Mark Rosser just behind in sixth and Zig Fuhrmeister in seventh.
Fastest lap of the race - a 1m51.230 - went to Arise Racing’s Adam Lisle and Jordan Oon, who finished race one in eighth position following contact for Lisle at turn one on the opening lap.
With Perini finishing Race One in front of championship rivals Peter Carr and Peter Paddon, he has been able to extend his lead in the championship, going into the final race of the series tomorrow.
The final race of the championship commences tomorrow at 10:10am local time.