Joy before disappointment as Sellars scales a mountain at Bathurst

The Spectrum driver had started from grid four in the opening race and, as a measure of how competitive the category is, the first three cars across the finish line were covered by less than three-tenths of a second.

Sellars had started from pole position for race two and was embroiled in a four-way battle when he was hit from behind and spun and then hit by another car.

Despite continuing in a damaged car, Sellars fought back to finish 12th in the 20-car field which left him with a big task to get back through the field in the final race.

His efforts were thwarted by a safety car period so he was forced to settle for eighth place and while he was disappointed overall, he finished fourth in the round, just 17 points behind joint leaders Eddy Beswick and Cody Maynes-Rutty.

"I can't be too disappointed with the result," he said.

"I had the speed of the front-runners and the win in race one was a boost for my confidence going into round two at Winton at the end of the month."

Sellars has raced at the Victorian circuit previously and it's also the test track for the team, whereas Bathurst was an unknown making his first-round performance even more meritorious.