News
Sutton and Haber win epic slipstream contest at Watkins Glen
British Touring Car star Ash Sutton and Kumho V8 Touring Car racer Harley Haber have shared two closely-fought wins in Round 3 of the carsales ARG eSport Cup at the historic Watkins Glen circuit.
The former BTCC champion continued his impressive sim racing form to earn his second consecutive eSport Cup pole position, but it was Haber that took a narrow 0.79 second win over Sutton in Race 1.
The Brit turned the tables in Race 2 to take another fascinating victory, giving him a sizeable lead in the series.
Trans Am racer Nathan Herne made his way to the lead in Race 1 before he pitted with Haber for their compulsory pit stop with 18 minutes remaining. Sutton elected to run longer, using a similar strategy to GRM-representative Luca Giacomin, making their stop with six minutes remaining.
Starting 12th, ACT Fence Hire S5000 racer Thomas Randle forged into the battle for the lead in the last third of the race, and was on for a strong result before the trio checked up entering the final complex and was spun by Herne coming onto the pit straight. Randle finished the race down in eighth.
Sutton took the win, fending off Herne and Team Valvoline S5000 racer James Golding.
With the top 20 of the first race reversed in Race 2, Sutton and Haber charged through the pack and made it to the lead within four laps. The pair resumed their slipstream battles from Race 1 as Sutton took the lead on the penultimate lap and defended hard for a tight 0.13 margin at the chequered flag.
ARG eSport Cup Series leader Dylan O’Keeffe had a night to forget after a poor qualifying session, he received a black flag for causing an incident in Race 1 while bump drafting with Garth Tander and Brayden Willmington.
O’Keeffe salvaged a result in Race 2, avoiding incidents in front and fighting his way up 26 spots from 30th to finish fourth. His disappointing evening dropped him to fourth in the standings.
The carsales ARG eSport Cup is now lead by Sutton on 191 points ahead of Herne (168) and Haber (166).
Round 4 heads to the ‘Temple of Speed’, Italian Formula 1 circuit Monza in the Formula 3 cars next Thursday, April 23 from 8pm AEST, live on the TCR Australia Facebook page and Youtube channel.
Series points
|
POS |
Car # |
Category |
Driver |
Rd 1 Bathurst |
R2 Zolder |
R3 Watkins Glen |
Series Points |
||||||||
|
1 |
116 |
TCR AU |
Ash Sutton |
57 |
63 |
71 |
191 |
||||||||
|
2 |
29 |
Trans Am |
Nathan Herne |
63 |
52 |
53 |
168 |
||||||||
|
3 |
21 |
V8TC |
Harley Haber |
46 |
47 |
73 |
166 |
||||||||
|
4 |
33 |
TCR AU |
Dylan O’Keeffe |
61 |
68 |
29 |
158 |
||||||||
|
5 |
47 |
TCR NZ |
Jaden Ransley |
51 |
49 |
55 |
155 |
||||||||
|
6 |
68 |
V8TC |
Jonathan Beikoff |
31 |
50 |
39 |
120 |
||||||||
|
7 |
75 |
TCR AU |
Garth Tander |
31 |
50 |
38 |
119 |
||||||||
|
8 |
48 |
Trans Am |
Nic Carroll |
43 |
63 |
20 |
116 |
||||||||
|
9 |
6 |
TCR AU |
Jordan Cox |
10 |
52 |
52 |
114 |
||||||||
|
10 |
7 |
TCR AU |
Luca Giacomin |
53 |
0 |
53 |
106 |
||||||||
|
11 |
31 |
S5000 |
James Golding |
54 |
14 |
45 |
103 |
||||||||
|
12 |
15 |
TCR AU |
Michael Clemente |
25 |
33 |
40 |
98 |
||||||||
|
13 |
18 |
TCR AU |
Aaron Cameron |
36 |
29 |
29 |
94 |
||||||||
|
14 |
64 |
TCR AU |
Tim Brook |
13 |
33 |
48 |
94 |
||||||||
|
15 |
39 |
ARG |
Ben McMellan |
27 |
37 |
27 |
91 |
||||||||
|
16 |
38 |
TCR AU |
Tim Mcreynolds |
50 |
34 |
5 |
89 |
||||||||
|
17 |
89 |
S5000 |
Braydan Willmington |
24 |
24 |
39 |
87 |
||||||||
|
18 |
8 |
Trans Am |
Aaron Seton |
38 |
25 |
27 |
85 |
||||||||
|
19 |
117 |
TCR AU |
Ben Bargwanna |
0 |
45 |
36 |
81 |
||||||||
|
20 |
99 |
Trans Am |
Brett Holdsworth |
42 |
17 |
17 |
76 |
||||||||
|
21 |
26 |
TCR NZ |
Tom Alexander |
33 |
0 |
41 |
74 |
||||||||
|
22 |
5 |
Trans Am |
George Miedecke |
3 |
42 |
24 |
69 |
||||||||
|
23 |
92 |
S5000 |
Ricky Capo |
10 |
28 |
28 |
66 |
||||||||
|
24 |
41 |
TCR AU |
Trent Harrison |
25 |
29 |
11 |
65 |
||||||||
|
25 |
27 |
S5000 |
Barton Mawer |
21 |
20 |
21 |
62 |
||||||||
|
26 |
9 |
TCR AU |
Jay Hanson |
28 |
15 |
26 |
59 |
||||||||
|
27 |
2 |
TCR AU |
Chelsea Angelo |
34 |
21 |
3 |
58 |
||||||||
|
28 |
10 |
TCR NZ |
Niels Langeveld |
40 |
0 |
18 |
58 |
||||||||
|
29 |
49 |
S5000 |
Thomas Randle |
1 |
13 |
41 |
50 |
||||||||
|
30 |
11 |
TCR AU |
Nathan Morcom |
9 |
28 |
10 |
47 |
||||||||
|
31 |
133 |
TCM |
Cameron Mason |
9 |
24 |
14 |
47 |
||||||||
|
32 |
22 |
TCR NZ |
Jack Milligan |
13 |
26 |
6 |
45 |
||||||||
|
33 |
777 |
TCR AU |
Declan Fraser |
20 |
2 |
23 |
45 |
||||||||
|
34 |
23 |
S5000 |
Tim Macrow |
9 |
22 |
24 |
45 |
||||||||
|
35 |
19 |
TCR AU |
Matt Simmons |
6 |
0 |
32 |
38 |
||||||||
|
36 |
28 |
TCR AU |
Rowan Shepherd |
37 |
0 |
0 |
37 |
||||||||
|
37 |
91 |
TCR AU |
Jaxon Evans |
37 |
0 |
0 |
37 |
||||||||
|
38 |
17 |
TCM |
Steve Johnson |
24 |
0 |
10 |
34 |
||||||||
|
39 |
35 |
V8TC |
Jason Gomersall |
0 |
20 |
8 |
28 |
||||||||
|
40 |
4 |
TCR AU |
Mike Sinclair |
2 |
18 |
7 |
27 |
||||||||
|
41 |
24 |
TCR AU |
John Martin |
5 |
18 |
7 |
20 |
||||||||
|
42 |
77 |
TCR NZ |
Stan Van Oord |
0 |
19 |
0 |
19 |
||||||||
|
43 |
12 |
Trans Am |
Peter Herd |
1 |
17 |
0 |
18 |
||||||||
|
44 |
3 |
TCR AU |
Lee Partridge |
16 |
0 |
0 |
16 |
||||||||
|
45 |
55 |
TCR NZ |
Rhys Gould |
0 |
0 |
16 |
16 |
||||||||
|
46 |
17 |
TCM |
Jett Johnson |
0 |
12 |
0 |
12 |
||||||||
|
47 |
30 |
TCR AU |
Sam Stratten |
10 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
||||||||
|
48 |
1 |
TCR AU |
Will Brown |
2 |
7 |
1 |
10 |
||||||||
|
49 |
67 |
TCM |
Jeremy Gray |
0 |
3 |
6 |
9 |
||||||||
|
50 |
222 |
TCR AU |
Luke King |
6 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
||||||||
|
51 |
122 |
TCR AU |
Blake ‘Bilko’ Williams |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
||||||||
|
52 |
88 |
TCR AU |
Tim Dossett |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
||||||||
|
53 |
85 |
TCM |
Adam Garwood |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
||||||||
|
54 |
117 |
TCR AU |
Jason Bargwanna |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |