May 14

May 14 S5000 round victory for Cooper Webster at Phillip Island

Cooper Webster held off a stiff challenge from series leader Joey Mawson to win the S5000 feature race at Phillip Island.

Cooper Webster takes the chequered flag at Phillip Island. *(ARG)*

Webster and Mawson had taken a victory each at Phillip Island as the second round of the S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship became a straight-out duel between the two drivers.

The pair lined up next to each other on the front row for race three, with Webster this time holding the lead off the line and fighting off a resolute challenge from Mawson through turn one. With James Golding in hot pursuit, the trio streaked away in the unusually warm and sunny Phillip Island afternoon.

Webster took the chequered flag for his first ever feature race victory in the series, taking the round victory and setting up a tantalising battle between the pair in the season to come.

“It feels incredible,” said Webster.

“I’m super stoked with that. Really, really happy.”

“Joey really gave it to me at the start, I didn’t get one of my grouse starts, but it’s alright. He gave it to me the best he could down into turn one and I knew it was on, but I held him off and just nailed the rest of the race, and it was game over.”

The weekend truly marked the end of Webster’s time as the emerging rookie, with team Versa Motorsport no longer the young upstarts but a new force in the Australian Drivers’ Championship.

Behind the lead pair, Blake Purdie did his best to hold off the challenge from James Golding and Aaron Cameron after starting in third, but fell in the opening laps to the experienced duo.

Golding chased down the leaders for the final podium position, with Cameron in fourth at the flag.

The S5000 field now heads to Winton for their final round in the SpeedSeries on 9-11 June before heading to the Supercars undercard for the rest of the year.

Mawson holds the lead of the championship on 239 points, his lead narrowing over Webster, in second with 228 points.

2023 S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship - Phillip Island Race 3