Anderson Takes Points Lead With The Bend Sweep

Josh Anderson took a clean sweep of Motorcraft Mustang Cup Australia victories in last weekend’s second round of the season at The Bend Motorsport Park, grabbing the lead of the championship for the series’ inaugural campaign in the process.

Anderson, the 2022 Aussie Racing Cars champion, proved the class of the 11-car field that assembled at the South Australian venue as he won both 40-minute races aboard his No. 94 RM Race Cars-prepared entry.

With neither of the drivers that won during the series’ opening weekend at Phillip Island in late March present this time, it puts Anderson — who scored a best finish of fifth in the first two races of the year — into a healthy points lead.

The opening race on Saturday was decided on the final lap as Jack Perkins, son of Australian motor racing legend Larry, led by as much as four seconds having started from pole on a wet-but-drying track, only to be caught by Anderson in the closing stages.

Anderson made the winning move as he passed Perkins’ Triple Eight Race Engineering car up the inside at the Turn 17 right-hander, the penultimate corner.

Third behind the lead duo was Josh Trappett, who like RM Race Cars teammate Anderson and Perkins scored his first podium of the year, ahead of 18-year-old debutant Harry Bresnahan and Joe Fawcett, who lost a place to Bresnahan after a spin.

Anderson’s route to victory in Sunday’s second race was more straightforward as he jumped polesitter Fawcett off the line to take a lead he would never lose.

Perkins likewise passed Fawcett at the start and went on to finish second, while Fawcett took his self-prepared entry to the final podium place after initially dropping to fifth.

Bresnahan and Trappett completed the top five.

With two of six rounds completed, Anderson leads Fawcett in the championship by 25 points, with Trappett third, 66 points off the lead.

John Goodacre won both races in the Dark Horse Legends class, although in the opener he finished behind Ben Dunn on the road only for Dunn to be disqualified.

The third round of the Mustang Cup Australia season will take place at Queensland Raceway on June 12-14.