Gartner got the best of the start with Peter Nicola in hot pursuit, with Scott Whittle settling back in third after starting from pole position.

The first retirement was Mick Nicola Jr with a left rear flat, then soon after that Ash Bergmeier with a flat left front and suspension damage on that corner of the car.

A multi car pile up in turns three and four brought on the yellows, with Ken Pierce, Ben Faulkhead and Scott Whittle all involved.  Whittle and Faulkhead were locked together and had to be separated by the crash crew.

Once the cars were finally separated, Gartner continued to lead, Peter Nicola, Whittle, Brad Wicks and Trent Wilson of Queensland.  After the restart, Whittle was laying over badly when up to speed and both he and Lucas Roberts retired shortly after.

All eyes were on the lead two cars of Gartner and Nicola, with a massive gaggle of back markers, which saw Gartner and Peter Nicola methodically and spectacularly thread through a wall of cars at times, before Ryan Daly found the wall on the front straight bringing on the yellows.

With six laps remaining, the two leaders made contact exiting turn two and continued until Lionel West spun in turn three, while cars on the back straight also got into trouble, again bringing on the yellow lights.

A massive last 5 laps of speed saw Dave Gartner take off, launching his car through the turns, hiking the left front way up in the air!

Peter Nicola kept chasing and finally got under Gartner on turn four of the last lap as the crowd roared their support, yet Gartner somehow got back the lead by the finish line in a fantastic race on a super fast track.

Brad Wicks completed the podium, with Trent Wilson and Lionel West completing the top five.

*Details courtesy of Liz Lappin VSSA