Joey Mawson claims first-ever S5000 night race

Joey Mawson has led lights to flag to take victory in the first ever S5000 race under lights.

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Mawson started from pole with a mega pace advantage over James Golding and Aaron Cameron, with Golding out of the battle early with a broken steering arm.

The 2021 series champion said a better warm up procedure was just one of the factors in his advantage from the start.

"I must have had a good feeling for the clutch off the line," said Mawson.

"I think the others got a bit of wheelspin, I just had good drive, and off I went."

Mawson and Cameron drew away from the chasing pack, with Tim Macrow and Nathan Herne locked in their own duel for third further back.

Cameron mounted several attempts on Mawson's lead, but the ALABAR / Form 700 driver said he was confident in managing the race from the lead.

"I was definitely managing [at the end]."

"To be honest, [Aaron] Cameron was quite pacey, I mean by mid-race I knew I had to start upping my pace because he was starting to pressure me a lot."

"Being such a long weekend, it's really important to look after the tyres."

"So that's what I was doing pretty much early on, even mid-race, and then towards the end once I started getting the gap I started to manage a bit more again."

Mawson held off Cameron to take the chequered flag and claim the S5000 lap record around Sydney Motorsport Park with a time of 1:25.6076s.

Tim Macrow went from fifth on the grid to complete the podium.

The S5000 Australian Drivers Championship returns with two races on Sunday - broadcast on Stan Sport in Australia and on Motorsport.tv for international viewers.

S5000 Australian Drivers Championship Round Four - Race 1 Results

1. Joey Mawson
2. Aaron Cameron
3. Tim Macrow
4. Nathan Herne
5. Shae Davies
6. Cooper Webster
7. Blake Purdie
8. James Golding - DNF