Impressive 1st outing by Jude Bargwanna
Jude Bargwanna’s dream start to the Kumho V8 Touring Car Series has continued after taking another comfortable victory in the second race of the weekend at Phillip Island.
In what was a highly mature performance, the teenager didn’t put a foot wrong throughout the race as he claimed an eight-second win ahead of Jim Pollicina, while Antonio Mulluso rounded out the podium.
Much like the opening race, the Anderson Motorsports driver lost a place at the start to Pollicina who was again impressive off the line.
Despite his efforts to defend the position, the lead soon changed hands after Bargwanna made a veteran-like move around the outside of turn one – allowing the 18-year-old to then build a gap between himself and the MoComm Racing Communications entry of Pollicina in the early stages of the race.
Pollicina soon found himself defending against the likes of Ray Hislop and Jamie Tilley for podium places, before a spin from Hislop forced Tilley off the road saw both surrendering the position to Mulluso.
Mulluso ended up holding on for the podium place in only his second ever appearance, rewarding his ability to stay out of trouble during a composed performance.
However the morning was all about Bargwanna, who credited his rise to the work put in by himself, the team and their commitment to improving each and every session.
“These cars are awesome; they are really cool to drive and I’m really enjoying the experience,” Bargwanna said.
“It may have looked easy on tv but we went through the data and picked up a few little things in my driving and in the car performance and we perfected that today and the team put a good car underneath me.”
