Down Dominates In Canada

Down was in command at Montreal – from pre-qualifying to finish.

The second round of the V8 Supercars Online Premier Series saw the drivers head into Canada for the first time at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.  Madison Down started strong topping pre-qualifying times and was looking good heading into the main race on Sunday night.

Down took off where he left off in pre-qualifying by grabbing the pole position with a blistering lap of 1:35.398 with championship rival Richard Hamstead moving up into second place in the final seconds of qualifying, just edging out Sam Sutton who showed a great turn of speed. George Maris and Shaun Kelly rounded out the top five starters for the main event.

When the lights went green it was Down taking an early lead he would not relinquish as he drove away with the victory in a dominating performance with the margin of victory almost eight seconds after the 45 lap race. Hamstead settled in behind Down early but could not mount any charge and had to settle for second place after a huge accident in his mirrors gave him some breathing room to third place. The driver of the day was Kurt Stenberg who won the second split in Round 1 and who made his way up onto the podium in the main race at Montreal fending-off Josh Muggleton for the majority of the last stint. Muggleton couldn’t get past Stenberg and settled into fourth place just ahead of Leigh Day who rounded out the top five.

George Maris (left) and Shaun Kelly come to grief on the back straightaway.

Michael Schreyer moved up four positions from tenth into sixth and had a good battle with Tony Autridge and Ian Ford. Autridge started 16th just one place behind Ford and both of them ended up with solid top 10 finishes. Chris Coxhead was the biggest mover starting from 27th and making his way into ninth just by staying out of trouble and having some good pace throughout the race; on the other hand Jon Latham had one to forget after being in contention for a podium finish.  Another driver’s mistake into the final chicane resulted in Latham getting heavy damage and having to circulate for much of the race at greatly reduced pace. although he still managed to hold onto a top 10 finish.

Split 2 produced a flag-to-flag victory for Bobby Jovanovich while Rhys Goldfinch had a good battle with Simon Black for second and third place with Goldfinch edging out Black by .446 of a second. Henry King and Greg Sharp completed the top five finishers.

Championship Standings After Round 2
1 – Richard Hamstead 590pts
2 – Madison Down 575pts
3 – Jon Latham 510pts
4 – Ian Ford 495pts
5 – Tony Autridge 490pts

The third Round of the V8 Supercars Online Premier Series is this weekend at Oran Park! Can Down continue his fine form or will someone else take victory and make it a third different winner in as many rounds? Pre-qualifying is from April 9th to 11th with the main race on Sunday night.

For the full race replay and all of the Round 3 action live visit v8sonline youtube channel or visit their facebook page.

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