Super2 points shaken up with Murray penalty

A penalty to Cooper Murray has shaken up the Dunlop Series standings heading to the next round at Sandown.

Eggleston Motorsport driver Murray entered the NTI Townsville 500 weekend second behind Zak Best.

Murray was caught up in a Race 2 incident with Blanchard Racing Team rookie Aaron Love.

Love was sent into the inside wall through the first Turn 10 sweeper, and picked up terminal front-end damage.

The BRT Ford driver managed to return to the garage as Murray pressed on, and #88 Holden crossed the line sixth.

The race finished under Safety Car after Chris Smerdon’s Super3 Commodore dropped oil and parked up at Turn 2.

Murray was later hit with a 25-second penalty over his role in the Love incident, and was relegated to 16th in Super2 and 19th overall.

The penalty elevated Jay Hanson to sixth ahead of fellow Holden drivers Zach Bates, Matt Chahda and Cameron Crick.

Critically, Murray drops from second in the points to third behind teammate Kai Allen, who won the round with finishes of first and second.

Series leader Best won Race 2, with his lead now 66 points over Allen. Murray’s deficit to Best blew out from 84 to 129 points thanks to the penalty.

It had bigger ramifications for Love, who was 75 points down in third after Townsville.

Heading to Sandown, Love is now seventh, 195 points away from the series lead.

The Dunlop Series season will resume at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 on September 15-17.