The Warrnambool sprintcar driver holds a 20-point advantage in the series after he finished second in round 10 at Moama’s Heartland Raceway on Saturday night.

His runner-up placing behind Dubbo’s Jeremy Cross was enough to elevate him to the top of the standings after leader Warrnambool’s Jamie Veal crashed out.

Mollenoyux isn’t wasting time reflecting on finally getting to the top of the standings, switching his focus to Saturday night’s Victorian title at Avalon.

Mollenoyux said he had contemplated skipping the title because of its tough format.

But the lure of Victoria one — a title that eluded him in a decorated formula 500 career that included a South Australian championship — ensures his participation.

The one-off race title meeting will also bring a change to Mollenoyux’s approach.

He revealed he had been conservative last Saturday night as he pushed for series points rather than a feature race win.

“It (the series) is something we are obviously trying to win. If we weren’t trying to win it, we wouldn’t have been going to some of the places we have,” he said.

“I probably had a little bit more focus of just trying to rack up some points than get a feature win. If we were just trying to look at each race as an individual race we wouldn’t be so conservative.”

He said a dry and abrasive track made tyre choice crucial on Saturday night.

He opted for a softer compound than most of his rivals.

“I only got three or four laps in and started thinking we wouldn’t have enough tyre to go the distance. I was being fairly conservative.”

Despite “not setting the quickest pace”, Mollenoyux led the 25-lap feature for 14 laps before Cross found a way underneath him.

Mollenoyux said once he saw Veal in the wall after a crash while challenging Cross for second early in the race, his focus switched.

“It wasn’t a matter of leading, it was a matter of salvaging a top three or as far up as I could get.”

Cross eventually took the win by almost half a lap from Mollenoyux while Terang teenager Jack Lee produced the best finish of his short career finishing third. Lee enjoyed a good night, out-driving Mollenoyux to pinch a heat win from the series pacesetter earlier in the night.

The SRA series has four rounds remaining with the next in Hamilton on Saturday week.