SPOTLESS FINNIE TAKES WORTHSLEY CROWN

Gilly Casawell maintained her good form at the Worthsley Beaches 400, securing Pole Position for the 72-lap Race 5 of the Whishy Racing Series. She started alongside her daughter, Sammy, who has showed pace but lacked consistency throughout the weekend thusfar.

The field of cars raced fairly sedately in the opening laps, each settling into their positions, preparing themselves for the longer haul. Sandhill Circuit isn't known as the greatest track for passing, and so everyone remained relatively near the position they qualified.

The routine was broken on lap 15, when Fluffy caught up with Needles at turn 6. The two cars locked for a moment, completely ripping Fluffy's from his car, damaging many compartments in the front left side of the car. Fluffy managed to stumble back to pit lane on 3 wheels, but the Safety Car was call

Giled, to allow the track officials time to clean the track of all the debris from the accident.

Most of the field used the opportunity to pit, with only Bubblegum remaining on track, taking a gamble. He took first position on the track, followed by Gilly, Sammy, Spine and Finnie. Spine quickly overtook Sammy at turn 4, and a slight bump allowed Finnie some room to move up the inside also. She took advantage, and forced her way down the inside at turn 6, forcing Sammy wide and allowing Dorsy up the inside.

Bubblegum was called to pit on lap 29 from third place (Gilly first, Spine second), and got a lucky break when Bumper ran wide at turn 3 and buried himself in the tyre wall on the outside of the track. The Safety Car was called, and Bubblegum moved back to 16th, but in a compressed field and with fresh tyres.

As soon as the green flag dropped once more, Gilly picked up from where she left off, coming across the line with a 1.2 second gap after completing 33 laps. Dorsy and Finnie combatted for several laps back in 3rd and 4th, the positions changing on numerous occasions. Wisheroony fought his way into the top 5 for the first time in his career, as Sammy fell back to the bottom of the top 10.

All of the cars in the field (except for Bubblegum) pitted on lap 43, when Sherbet brought out the 3rd Safety Car of the race. Racing down the front straightaway, both right wheels slipped onto the grass as Sherbet cut the corner a bit short. Slippery after a shower last night, both wheels slid and propelled the car across the track. Out of control, the car slammed into the outside wall, just outside pit lane. The left side of Sherbet's car sustained heavy damage, ending his race.

Bubblegum was back in the lead, but Gilly applied large pressure on the back of him, and jumped as soon as he made a small mistake at turn 2 on lap 51. Finnie, after winning the battle against Dorsy, resumed second position when Bubblegum pitted on lap 60. Dorsy came to third, and Wisheroony jumped up to his career best 4th.

Gilly led Finnie by 2.4 seconds after 60 laps, but a slight lock of the brakes shaved 0.5 of a second off the margin back to Finnie and put a flatspot on her front right tyre. Finnie charged hard, and the margin had decreased back to just a second by the 65th lap. Finnie only posted better and better times at the laps remaining decreased, and was right on Gilly's tail by lap 68. Gilly resisted for a lap, but soon realised the pass was inevitable and succumbed to Finnie on lap 71.

Finnie crossed the finish line in first, followed by Gilly and Dorsy - a very experienced podium, especially compared to yesterday's second race. Sammy finished back in 9th, in front of Bubblegum in 10th. For the full race results, click here.

#WhishyRacingSeries #BubblesPaste #TrentStreams #FinnieStreams