Ojeda awarded victory in dramatic Townsville opener

Jayden Ojeda has claimed a maiden Dunlop Super2 Series win in the Townsville opener, which was called early early due to a major pile-up.

The race was red-flagged after a collision between Tyler Everingham and Zak Best, with the several drivers in the bunched pack left with nowhere to go.

Notably, Eggleston Motorsport teammates Jack Perkins and Matt McLean both suffered heavy front and rear damage.

Declan Fraser and Matt Chahda were also caught up in the Turn 3 melee. Perkins fared the worst, with his #88 Commodore catching on fire.

The incident triggered the BP Ultimate Safety Car; while Triple Eight Race Engineering pole-sitter Broc Feeney had been leading at the time, the backdated results saw victory awarded to Ojeda.

The race began in high drama, with Ojeda vaulting from third to first by pit lane exit followed a poor start for Feeney.

Best carried second ahead of Feeney, who managed to slot into third ahead of teammate Angelo Mouzouris.

Ojeda led by over a second after the opening lap, with Feeney attempting to clear Best at Turn 2 on the following lap.

Mouzouris was nudged into the tyre barrier at Turn 11 after Jordan Boys attempted to follow Chahda down the inside.

Best continued to hang onto second from Feeney, enabling Ojeda to stretch his lead to four seconds.

On lap 6, Feeney made the move stick, and was brought into contention when the Safety Car was called for Super3 competitor Brendan Strong’s stricken car at Turn 3.

On the restart, Ojeda defended from Feeney, who made a move for the lead at Turn 2 on lap 14.

The drama ensued on the following lap, with Everingham tipping Best into a spin at Turn 3. Several in the bunched pack piled into Everingham at the blind right-hander.

Perkins pulled his car over at corner exit, with a fire breaking out in the engine bay. The red flag was called, before the race was declared.

Best was classified third ahead of Everingham, Chahda, and McLean. Josh Fife, Zane Morse, Jaylyn Robotham and Fraser rounded out the top 10.

Perkins was classified 11th and Boys 12th, with Nash Morris winning Super3 in 14th outright.

ARMOR ALL Qualifying for Race 2 starts on Sunday at 11:15am AEST.