Andrew Priolo continued his good form of the season past and introduced his brand new major sponsors NU Style Living to the winners circle very early as he claimed the feature win as well as the overall points win in the rescheduled Grand Opening Showdown at the Perth Motorplex last night.
Priolo was in near perfect form as he claimed two wins and a fourth across the night. Of course, he didn't have it all his own way as he had some titanic battles with Tom Hooper and Mark House throughout the night that certainly made him earn his win.
The opening race saw sixteen starters, with a number of competitors unable to make it back after Saturday’s rain out. Adrian Haywood led the opening lap, while Troy Johnson, who won the only race run on Saturday before the rains came, starting from position eight, made a huge run around the outside of the field and into second place. Shortly after he passed Haywood for the lead, while Mark House quickly followed Johnson. The duo pulled away from the rest of the field, with Johnson narrowly getting the nod over House while Tom Hooper fought his way through to finish third and Priolo came from position eleven to get fourth. Right up until the last lap though, Brett Janssen had been able to hold them off and sit in fourth place, in a great run for the veteran in a car significantly older than his fellow competitors machinery.
The second race was even better than the first, with Priolo quickly into the lead. The third lap saw Tom Hooper burst onto the scene and draw level with Priolo; the duo racing side by side for the next couple of laps. Unbeknownst to them, Mark House was closing on them and all of a sudden it became a three way battle, the group swapping positions without touching, lap after lap. Even a restart couldn't stop them and as they came to the chequers House made a last ditch effort to grab the lead from Priolo but went sideways slightly, which just gave Hooper the space he needed to sneak through and grab second while House was forced to settle for third.
The final race saw Hooper lead away Priolo and Johnson who made his presence felt early before spinning and rolling over in turn three on the third lap. House, who was fourth at the time, also headed infield on the restart, leaving Hooper to race away from Priolo. Unfortunately for Hooper, and fortunately for Priolo, Hooper suffered mechanical dramas and headed infield on lap nine, handing Priolo the lead and the win as he went on to score ahead of Thomas Davies and Chris Dymock.
There is no rest for the WA Formula 500 division as this weekend they will be heading down south to Margaret River for the opening round of the West Coast Series. All the details will be released in the coming days so stay tuned!
