Cox beats Holdsworth in Race 2 at Symmons Plains

The Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce cars encored with a 1-2 finish in TCR Australia as Jordan Cox beat Lee Holdsworth in the second race at Symmons Plains. Though, unlike in yesterday’s Race 1, the Italian cars did not dominate, as their success came only after Aaron Cameron’s Peugeot 308 pitted from the lead with a paddle-shift issue.
Chaz Moster completed the podium in his Melbourne Performance Centre Audi RS 3 LMS. 
Just like in Race 1, Cox took the lead pipping pole sitter Holdsworth who was also passed by Cameron for P2. During the first lap, Cameron overtook Cox, while Nathan Morcom, Mostert and Luke King were following the three leaders in fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. 
At the beginning of lap two, Dylan O’Keeffe’s Renault Mégane and Michael Caruso’s Alfa Romeo Giulietta came together; the Alfa crashed into the wall, while the Renault spun but rejoined. The safety car was deployed to recover Caruso’s car.
When the race resumed on lap 6, Cameron seemed able to pull away from the two Alfa Romeo cars of Cox and Holdsworth. In lap 8, Morcom made a mistake and dropped from fourth to sixth behind Mostert and King. Jay Hanson too tried to pass Morcom, but in lap 9 he was hit from behind by James Moffat; they both retired into the pits.
In lap 14, Cameron went wide into the hairpin, opening the gap to Cox who was able to use it for retaking the lead. Soon afterwards, Cameron’s Peugeot slowed and he had to pit, rejoining five laps later. 
Cox took the chequered flag, nine tenths ahead of Holdsworth who resisted the pressure from Mostert to retain the second place. King won the battle for fourth against Morcom, Josh Buchan and Brad Shiels, while Jason Bargwanna, Tony D’Alberto and Ben Bargwanna rounded off the top ten.
The third race starts at 15:25 local time (05:25 CET), with Cox and Holdsworth sharing the front row again; Moffat will be dropped at the back of the grid by a penalty for the incident with Hanson.

Symmons Plains – Race 2
1. Jordan Cox (Garry Rogers Motorsport, Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce), 22 laps
2. Lee Holdsworth (Ashley Seward Motorsport, Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce), 0.9444
3. Chaz Mostert (Melbourne Performance Centre, Audi RS 3 LMS), 3.2631
4. Luke King (Melbourne Performance Centre, Audi RS 3 LMS), 4.9893
5. Nathan Morocom (HMO Customer Racing, Hyundai i30 N), 5.5131

Championship points
1. Lee Holdsworth 78 pts; 2. Jordan Cox 76; 3. Chaz Mostert 58

Picture: TCR Australia