A dream comes true
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TODD Hazelwood has credited securing his first Bathurst 1000 start for the purple patch of form after saluting in a drama- filled Dunlop Super2 Series race at Townsville yesterday.
The Adelaide youngster avoided two multi- car pile- ups at the front of the field, the first of which forced the race to be temporarily suspended.
Five cars smashed into each other at turn three on the sixth lap as the race descended into chaos. It mattered little to Hazelwood, the 21- year- old leading from start to finish to back up his victory in race one on Saturday.
It was Hazelwood’s first round win of his career and saw him overtake Paul Dumbrell as the new series leader.
“It was almost perfect, two front row starts and two wins. I’m rapt to get that first round win,” he said.
“I’ve been trying pretty hard for the last few years trying to get this moment.
“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet, but it’s exciting times.
“I knew the pace was pretty good and going into that last lap there was all that crusher dust on turn three, I knew if I could get through that cleanly the car was pretty strong around the back. I was fist pumping like no tomorrow, it was a pretty cool moment.”
Late last month Hazelwood was named as Tim Blanchard’s co- driver for this year’s Pirtek Endurance Cup, which includes the Sandown 500, the Bathurst 1000 and Gold Coast 600. It has given the belief he needs to take charge in the main Supercars support class, especially after a forgettable last round at Phillip Island.
“It’s a dream come true, to be honest, to announce I’ll be with Tim Blanchard and the CoolDrive ( Commodore) team,” he said.
“It was a big goal for us to achieve this year, to get my first crack in the Bathurst 1000.”
Hazelwood had to fight off a spirited challenge from Ford driver Anton de Pasquale, who had to settle for second.
Richard Muscat said the two multi- car prangs would almost certainly come under the microscope of stewards. “It’ll definitely be investigated, it ruined a few people’s races.”