THE home track podium streak has continued for Dylan Gulson after finishing third in the Toyota 86 Racing Series’ second race at Mount Panorama.
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The Bathurst driver stormed seven places up the grid to earn a podium result at the circuit for the third successive year.
Gulson also had a bonus: Coming away with a much healthier car compared to some of his competitors.
Big incidents highlighted the first and third events of the weekend, with the former crash leading to the race’s abandonment.
Gulson narrowly missed a place on the overall podium after ending the third and final race in fifth but could walk away content with how the weekend played out.
“To make up seven positions in six laps made for an immensely satisfying race,” he said.
“I’m pleased to get the podium at home. I haven’t missed out on one since I’ve been here so that’s a nice achievement.
“I missed out a bit in this morning’s race. I wouldn’t say that I did anything wrong. It was just the way the field were positioned and bunched up in the opening lap.
“There was definitely a podium within shot again but the safety car cruelled any chance we had of a fight back.”
The opening race of the weekend didn’t even get through three corners before a major incident brought it to a stop.
Ben Grice was contacted on the run towards The Cutting and slammed hard into the outside wall.
Luke King, Trent Grubel, George Gutierrez and Declan Fraser all suffered damage in the crash which left debris strewn across the track.
The red flag came as a big relief for Gulson who had slipped back to 30th in the drama.
Gulson had been pinned between two cars during the incident and could only watch as the field all went by.
He was restored back to his original position of 10th on the grid for the second race and produced an excellent performance.
“I got a good start and took two in one move up Mountain Straight and that got me clear of the fighting pack, which really helped,” Gulson said.
“I think we had the speed to be on the top step but starting from 10th meant we went as well as we probably could have expected but it was very satisfying to move up that far in a short amount of time.”
Gulson didn’t get the start he wanted in the final race when Cameron Crick got by on Mountain Straight.
The slide for Gulson continued over a tough opening lap when Luke King and Luke van Herwarde pushed him back to sixth.
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Still, there were people about to have a much worse time than he was having.
Dylan Thomas exited the chase but lost control on his re-entry to the track, triggering a dramatic incident.
James Davison had no chance of avoiding Thomas.
He clipped the left rear and travelled perilously on two wheels before slamming back down onto the track.
Just to add to an already unlucky moment, Jaiden Maggs spun out on his own accord and slammed into the back of Davison’s car.
The safety car period left just a single lap dash for cash.
Gulson had to survive a big battle with Cam Walton over the top of the mountain and thanks to van Herwarde’s run off the track at The Chase the Bathurst driver got one place back.
Jake Klein and Tim Brook split the race wins.
