BATHURST’S Dylan Gulson came to the Mount Panorama round of the Toyota 86 Series hoping to score himself a top five finish but he would leave with a result beyond his expectations.
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Gulson scored himself two podium results on his home circuit to continue his rise up the championship ranks and make a big statement – finishing third overall for the round.
On Saturday morning Gulson opened his Bathurst account in style with a third place.
He then went one step better later in the day when he found runner-up finish in race two, almost getting by eventual round winner Will Brown.
An off-road excursion in the third and final race of the round saw Gulson slip back to seventh but there was no wiping the smile off the Bathurst driver.
”It’s been a great weekend. I’m very proud of the efforts of myself and everyone here with me this weekend and it’s been above our expectations,” he said.
“I’m happy to do this at home and show everyone that we can move up the field and be right up the front.
“To sum up the weekend, it’s been the best experience of my life so far.”
As a bonus Gulson also claimed the new race lap record of two minutes and 39.1671 seconds, which he achieved on his last lap of the weekend.
The climb up the ranks has been a satisfying experience for Gulson.
In round two at Sydney Motorsport Park he achieved his first top 10 finish then in the following round at Sandown he achieved the same feat in all three races.
Now he’s reached a new level once again.
“At the start of the year we wanted to see where we were and build on it and not get rushed into trying to get results too quickly,” he said.
“It was all about learning a bit more and applying it for the next race. To do it in this style is really good because we’re moving up not only in race results but also the championship. I’m super stoked about it all.”
Gulson’s highlight of the weekend was the race two battle with Brown.
The leading pair built a gap of several seconds over the rest of the field and engaged in a duel which lasted for several laps.
“We were so close to first but I wasn’t going to do anything silly. I was in a good position and I knew it. I had the speed to run with Will in that race but I thought ‘We’ll preserve this second’,” Gulson said.
