Mawson Reigns Supreme at Winton

It had become tight at the top of the S5000 standings heading into Winton Motor Raceway between Joey Mawson and Cooper Webster.  But by the end of the race weekend, the gap between first and second in the championship had grown.

In Practice 1, Aaron Cameron - again pulling double duty racing in both S5000 and TCR – would show early speed, topping the timesheets with a 1:17.857.  The top three were only separated by seven hundredths of a second, with Joey Mawson and James Golding in hot pursuit.

Unfortunately, Mark Rosser and Nic Carrol would come together at Turn 7, leaving Rosser stuck on the edge of the asphalt and Nic Carrol with a trip to the hospital with a hand injury.

In the Friday afternoon practice session, Aaron Cameron continued to be the fastest S5000 on track, with a better 1:17.572, followed by James Golding, three tenths behind and Joey Mawson a further two tenths back.

The teams were greeted with a cold Saturday morning session in which they would set their qualifying times.  With rain a possibility, it was important to get a quick lap in early, whilst also warming up their tyres well enough to not lose any grip whilst on the cold track.  

​After missing Practice 2, it was good to see Nic Carroll back in the car, being medically cleared to race after receiving ligament damage in his hand after his Practice 1 incident with Mark Rosser.

It would be James Golding who would snatch pole position with a lap time of 1:17.073, six hundredths of a second ahead of Joey Mawson, with Aaron Cameron half a second behind, starting third.

However, James Golding would drop through the field on the first lap.  Joey Mawson would take the lead around the outside of Turn 1, as drivers used the slipstream on the way down to Turn 3, where Cooper Webster would snatch second.  James Golding would then go wide out of Turn 4, falling to fourth. 

James Golding would fight through the field, setting fastest lap after fastest lap with the help of push-to-pass to find himself in back in second when the safety car came out for Mark Rosser when he landed in the Turn 4 barriers.

On the restart, Mawson, Golding and Cameron would all lock up into Turn 1, with the latter two heading through the grass.  Mawson would survive to grab the Race 1 win, ahead of Cooper Webster and Blake Purdie.

A bit of disarray would continue into Race 2, as Blake Purdie would have a great start, but would lock up into Turn 1, running into Cooper Webster as Jordan Boys and Winston Smith would have nowhere to go.  With Blake Purdie left with no steering, he would then run into Mark Rosser, taking him out of the race as well.

The safety car would come out to clean up the mess, as luckily Jordan Boys would be able to continue after receiving a new front wing.  

Aaron Cameron would make a mistake, surrendering second place to James Golding, as Joey Mawson would cross the finish line victorious again.

Race 3 would be a clean affair, as there were a few battles at the rear of the field.  At the front though, no one was stopping Joey Mawson, his third win of the weekend, and his second clean sweep of the season.  James Golding would finish second, with Aaron Cameron third.

With Mawson’s dominant weekend, he leads the championship by 77 points ahead of Cooper Webster, who is only 5 points ahead of James Golding.  It’s going to take a miracle for anyone to catch up to the two-time S5000 champion.

Bonus Gallery