The Bend TCR: Brown wins crash-affected second race

Hyundai driver Will Brown won a crash-affected second TCR Australia race at The Bend.

Starting second, Brown effectively won the 30-minute encounter when he out-dragged polesitter Garth Tander (MPC Audi) off the line.

Once on front, the HMO Customer Racing star had the pace to comfortably manage two restarts and secure a 0.6s win to extend his points lead.

There was plenty of drama behind Brown, however, with a frantic battle for second place.

It started with Tander, John Martin (Wall Honda) and Chris Pither (GRM Renault) knocking doors on the opening lap.

Martin had been sitting second when the race was neutralised by the Safety Car on Lap 3 to retrieve Alex Whitley’s stranded Alliance VW, however he was overhauled by Pither on the run to Turn 1 when the race went green again on Lap 5.

There was another Safety Car a lap later, thanks to Jimmy Vernon (GRM Alfa) spinning and subsequently taking out Alex Rullo (Kelly Racing Holden).

Not only after the restart there was another dramatic change near the front, Pither locking the rears of his Megane on the way into Turn 1 and firing into the outside wall.

That opened the door for Race 1 winner Tander to secure second behind Brown, while James Moffat (GRM Renault) made a late move on Martin to round out the podium.

Martin finished fourth, followed by teammate Jordan Cox.

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