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The second block saw Australia’s top 10 drivers go head-to-head. The top two competitors will proceed to the World Final, while positions 3-8 would go on to the Repechage block for a second chance.

For this race, the Australians would be competing on their home turf at the Mount Panorama Motor Racing Circuit, in Gr.3 machines.

The top pick for this block was Cody Nikola Latkovski. In the previous Online Series, he was unable to register as a Star Player as he was under 18. Though he sometimes struggled in the points rankings, he showed amazing strength in the test seasons.

Luckily Latkovski reached his 18th birthday just in time to qualify to compete here at the Regional Final in Japan.

The starting grid was determined by players’ online rankings. Pole position was taken by David Wilk (warrior2167) [FType Gr.3], who started with Soft tyres. Cody Nikola Latkovski (Nik_Makozi) [VantageGT3] placed 5th on the grid and chose to start with Medium tyres.

On the first corner it looked almost as if the drivers had made a gentlemen’s agreement beforehand as they passed through without a single accident. This clean start was a rare and noteworthy occurrence for the Australian competitors as they had been known for their heavy body contact while racing.

However, Latkovsky (Nik_Makozi) was in no position to sit idly by. On a mission to reach the front of the pack, he quickly overtook Joseph de Jesus IV (Bass_71CLK) [Mustang Gr.3] on the 4th corner of the first lap to take 4th place.

The second lap was where things started to change: member of sim-racing giants Team Red Line, Daniel Holland (TRL_holl01) [Ford GT LM], hit a wall as he approached the 4th turn in 2nd place.

Both Matthew Simmons (MINT_GTR) [AMG GT3] and Latkovski (Nik_Makozi) took this chance to move up the ranks.

With this, Latkovski (Nik_Makozi) was able to move up to 3rd place without opposition.

Latkovski (Nik_Makozi)'s continued low lap times paid off on the third lap as he moved up to 2nd place on the back straight.

On lap 4, the top three cars all entered the pits.

Each one of them chose a different strategy though as David Wilk (warrior2167) [F TypeGr.3] switched to Medium tyres, Latkovski (Nik_Makozi) switched to Hard, and Simmons (MINT_GTR) [AMG GT3] chose Soft.

Despite his choice of Hard tyres, Latkovski (Nik_Makozi) swiftly dealt with the traffic as he left the pits.

Soon Latkovski (Nik_Makozi) overtook Wilk (warrior2167) on the back straight to take 1st place.

Excited cheers from the crowd filled the arena as they watched the driver overtaking his Medium tyre equipped rival on Hard tyres in an almost theatrical comeback effort that could aptly be called “The Nik_Makozi Show”.

Simmons (MINT_GTR) [AMG GT3] headed for his final pit stop on lap 7, returning to the race in 5th place where he was caught by Jesus (Bass_71CLK).

On lap 8, David Wilk (warrior2167) headed for the pits, but as he returned to the race he would also get caught behind Jesus (Bass_CLK) and the gap to 1st place widened.

Simmons (MINT_GTR) was able to overtake Jesus (Bass_CLK) on the first half of the circuit, but Wilk (warrior2167) was unable to surmount his rival until the end of the back straight, falling further behind the top two cars.

On lap 10, after having led the pack unopposed, Latkovski (Nik_Makozi) made the switch to Soft tyres, which he had been saving for this final pit stop. Re-joining the race in 3rd, Latkovski (Nik_Makozi) had no trouble in passing the front two cars, which had now switched to Hard tyres, to retake the lead.

As had been predicted, victory went to Cody Nikola Latkovski (Nik_Makozi). Due to his unfortunate inability to participate in the Online Season "Top 24 Superstars" race, Latkovski had started this race in 5th place, but by the end he had proved his worth, finishing 1st.

By the final lap, 2nd place runner up Simmons (MINT_GTR) had begun to lose his pace, and David Wilk (warrior2167) had begun to creep up behind. He could not however make good on his efforts before the finish line and David Wilk (warrior2167) would go on to the Repechage block for one last try.