Puncture sees Brad Shiels finish 11th in second TCR Australia race after leading for four laps

Bathurst's Brad Shiels experienced the full range of emotions Mount Panorama can bestow upon a driver when he finished 11^th in the week's second TCR Australia race on Friday, after leading the race for four laps.

Shiels' brilliant start saw him jump from fourth on the grid up to second, but he copped significant bumps from both sides on his way through.

The Tilton Racing Hyundai I30N of Shiels was showing excellent pace in the early laps for the Bathurst driver and he eventually made the pass on Jason Bargwanna to take the lead on lap three.

However, the damage suffered to his car throughout those opening laps would soon catch up with him.

On lap seven a puncture saw him give up the lead to Michael Caruso on Conrod Straight, and by the end of the lap he was back in fifth.

He came into the pits the following lap with his dreams of a home track victory cruelled ended.

"That absolutely sucked. We lost our lead due to a punctured tyre," he said.

"We got off to a great jump but the thing about this category is that no-one wants to give up their spot. Some of these drivers have got egos that are too big.

"I got absolutely smashed off the start going into that first corner, from all sides, so that did a lot of damage to the suspension. We continued to cop hits and eventually we got that puncture.

"We probably didn't have as much pace as the guys behind me but I was managing to hold them out. It was looking alright for a while. Then there was a lot of vibration happening and it continued to get worse and worse," he said.

"It felt awesome out in front. It was all going to plan and then another issue came up."

Caruso would end up crashing at The Chase on lap 10, allowing Jordan Cox to come through and take the race two victory.

Aaron Cameron and Bargwanna would fill the rest of the podium.

The result continues a frustrating week for Shiels, who had his fourth place from Wednesday's opening race stripped due to his car coming in underweight.

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