Mount Gambier driver Jobe Stewart won both races at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 on the weekend to drive away as the Dunlop Super3 Series round winner and Rookie of the Round.

With just two rounds to go in this year’s season, the 19-year-old significantly increased his championship lead to 150 points ahead of Cameron McLeod.

While it was a super weekend for Stewart, McLeod was far from cloud nine with two unfortunate incidences stripping him of the win in both races.

In race one, McLeod led the race eight spots ahead of Stewart but his #92 Nissan Altima ran out of fuel and came to a stop in the final lap which left him unable to finish the race and conceding the victory to the Blue Lake boy.

Stewart said prior to the last lap his competitor “pretty much had the win in the bag”.

“Qualifying before the race, I qualified second behind Cameron again which obviously I would like to be in front of him but we were just lacking a little bit of speed in the car,” he said.

“Going into the race had pretty good speed for the first half of the race and I was not far behind him and then the second half of the race the car just dropped away a bit and I did not save my tyres as well as I should have.

“Pretty lucky for me, you’d have to say it was handed to me, I definitely did not give up in the end, definitely a far bit of luck on my side.”

Race two on Sunday was a collision-filled event with Stewart avoiding the worst of it but McLeod crashing out on lap one.

Super2 driver Nash Morris collided with McLeod on turn four, breaking the Super3 driver’s front-left suspension which left him unable to finish the race.

“I qualified a little bit closer to him in the times which made me a little bit closer to him on the grid and then got a decent start,” Stewart said.

“I think into turn four he was leading on the first lap and came together with another one of the Super2 cars and ended up hanging out of the fence so that handed me the lead of the race and then I just tried to stay clean from there and ended up winning that race too.

“I definitely did not have the outright speed that Cameron McLeod did but he was caught up in a few things and for me I knew he was going to be aggressive being in front and trying to stay in front.

“I just kind of hung back at the start of both races and tried to be as safe as I could because it’s pretty much just been about surviving the race for the first few races of the season and it turned out well.”

Super3 driver Mason Kelly tangled with fellow competitor Ryan Gilroy early into the race which sent the #89 Nissan into Stewart and left Gilroy spinning out onto the grass.

“Did not really bump too much but just a little bit of a battle for the first couple of laps,” Stewart said.

“That did not affect me too much, the car was still okay after having that little bit of contact.

“It was pretty crazy and for me racing the Super2s but in the Super3 category, all those guys with the slightly faster cars just want to race around you and if you’re at the front of the Super3 category it’s just about kind of saving yourself and staying out of their way and kind of letting them do their battling.

“It was pretty tricky to stay out of trouble but I managed to do it.”

Stewart said his significant championship lead heading into the 2023 Repco Bathurst 1000 from October 5-8 put him in good stead for the final two rounds.

“It definitely puts me into a pretty good spot going into the last two rounds but I’m still going to have to work hard and obviously play it a little bit safe because I think if I just finish the races somewhat near the front it should give me enough points to finish off with the lead in the championship,” he said.

“I am still going to keep that in the back of my mind but still try as hard as I can to win both of the last two rounds.

“I’m feeling a little bit nervous obviously because Bathurst is a pretty tough track with the hills and everything but I have raced there a few times just in a different car in the Toyota 86 Series which is a fair bit slower and has a fair bit less grip.

“Being there before will give me some confidence with the experience but also driving it in a V8 supercar is going to be a hell of a lot different so I am going to have a lot to learn.”