Josh Burdon scored an impressive lights-to-flag victory in the fifth round of the Euro Racecar NASCAR Touring Series Open Championship.
Pole position, the win and setting the fastest lap of the race capped off a perfect end to Burdon’s day and set him up for a very promising race on Sunday.
“It was a great race,” said the Scorpus Racing driver. “The conditions were tough and it was by no means an easy win, we were always working hard. We made sure we were fast on the cold tyres and we managed to get a gap on the guys when they were battling behind us, which helped. Tomorrow looks good and I look forward to starting from the inside and heading down to Turn 1. I just want to win, that’s why I’m here.”
The Australian started from pole position and stated his intentions early, beginning to pull away from Anthony Gandon. However, green flag racing was short lived, as the opening caution of the day came out as Eric Quintal sent Ander Vilarino‘s Elite Championship race-winning car into the barriers at Paddock Hill bend.
Burdon got the jump on his rivals from the restart, setting the fastest lap of the race and pulling out over a second ahead of Gandon. Further down the field, a great battle for the final podium position ensued between Julien Goupy, Vincent Gonneau and Enzo Pastor.
The race slowed for yellow flags once again as Didier Bec spun the #8 car at Druids, making almost the exact same mistake as Hugo Bec made in the same car in the Elite race.
Racing resumed with just 8 minutes left on the clock and immediately Goupy attempted to make a move for second on Gandon, running side-by-side all the way around to Graham Hill bend, allowing Burdon to pull out another strong lead.
Gandon put in a late charge to chase down the Australian, but no-one was going to catch Burdon as he took the chequered flag in a completely dominant performance.
The British challengers had a less successful outing in the Open Championship, with Ian Gough suffering gearbox issues following an engine change for the #92 car between the Elite and Open Championship races. Stewert Lyddall finished 14th for Scorpus Racing.
