![\"Mechanical](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/INS24904-e1779423485414.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRyan Reynolds held off a late Diesel Thomas charge to win the opening Aussie Racing Cars race at Symmons Plains. Image: InSyde Media<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRyan Reynolds held off a late Diesel Thomas charge to win the opening Aussie Racing Cars race at Symmons Plains. Image: InSyde Media<\/p>\n
Reynolds held off a late charge by Diesel Thomas to win by just over 0.1s as leading cars fell in a battle of attrition.<\/p>\n
Scott Andriske came home in third position ahead of Super2 racer Ayrton Hodson, with Brandon Madden rounding out the top five.<\/p>\n
Anthony Di Mauro led the field away from pole position, however went nowhere off the start with a mechanical issue.<\/p>\n
The pole-sitter re-joined the field several laps down, however was not classified come the race conclusion.<\/p>\n
Craig Thompson struggled in the early laps with front left lock-ups at the hairpin, kicked off by a late divebomb move on the opening lap to take the lead.<\/p>\n
Thompson was shuffled back in the opening laps after being forced wide at the final corner, falling to the back half of the top 10.<\/p>\n
Scott Dornan raced his way to the lead in the early laps, but suffered a spectacular mechanical failure while leading, with plumes of smoke bellowing from the rear.<\/p>\n
Dornan was able to limp back to the pit lane and the race continued.<\/p>\n
Reynolds built a lead of over 1.5s at the mid-point of the race, with Madden looking poised to chase the leader down.<\/p>\n
A slight mistake dropped Madden down the order, allowing Thomas through to hunt down the leader.<\/p>\n
Legend Cars Australia front runners Ruben Dan and Chais Tippett encountered difficult series debuts.<\/p>\n
Dan did not start Race 1, while Tippett battled in the mid-pack to finish 12th.<\/p>\n
Aussie Racing Cars returns for Race 2 on Saturday at 8:50am AEST.<\/p>\n
Touring Car Masters<\/p>\n
Marcus Zukanovic charged through to take victory in the exhibition Trophy Race, beating Steven Johnson by just 0.08s in a late thriller.<\/p>\n
Adam Garwood held on to take third place in the Ford Capri Perana, despite an off-track excursion at the penultimate corner.<\/p>\n
Danny Buzadzic came home in fourth ahead of Tim Brook rounding out the top five.<\/p>\n
In a scrambled grid order that saw the fastest cars start at the back, Jordan Cox led the field away in the Improved Production-spec Mazda RX-7, however quickly lost the lead to faster machines.<\/p>\n
Cox battled through and held on to sixth spot despite the straight line speed disadvantage.<\/p>\n
Former series champion Ryan Hansford ground to a halt at the mid point of the race, with a mechanical issue side-lining the Multispares Racing Torana on the back straight.<\/p>\n
Touring Car Masters returns for the first of three full points paying races on Saturday at 2:20pm.<\/p>\n
Round 1 winner Scott Cameron will lead the field after qualifying on pole position this morning.<\/p>\n
Tassie Tin Tops<\/p>\n
Ben Purtell took victory in the ex-drift Nissan 180SX, inheriting the lead in the closing laps from Brad Sherriff.<\/p>\n
Sherriff led the opening portion of the race from the start in his R34 Skyline, until contact from Hayden Lovell at the final corner sent the car into a spin.<\/p>\n
Sherriff was classified in 20th position having not made it out of the pit lane, while Lovell was side-lined with steering damage.<\/p>\n
Tim Mann held on to second position from Craig Sheehan, while Josh Barwick charged through the field in the sister car to Sherriff\u2019s to finish fourth.<\/p>\n
Mark Duggan rounded out the top five in the big Aston Martin DBRS9 Sports Sedan.<\/p>\n
Tassie Tin Tops return on Saturday for Race 2 at 9:20am.<\/p>\n