It was inevitable: Young gun Matt Campbell has taken his first Porsche Carrera Cup Australia victory, winning the opening race at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Campbell claimed the top spot after Nick Foster received a post-race five second penalty for jumping the start. The race was the five straight where the #777 Porsche crossed the finish line in first place, though the penalty put a stop to the impressive achievement.
Foster finished second from Steven Richards and Shae Davies, who also received a five second post race penalty for a track boundary breach.
Campbell, who is the reigning Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia Class B Champion, was ecstatic with his maiden win.
“I’m ecstatic. It’s great to get the first win under my belt. It wasn’t the way I wanted to win, but a win is a win and it’s great to get it out of the way,” said Campbell.
“I had great pace in the first part of the season but struggled with my starts and race craft. Fortunately I was able to get a good start today and battle with Foster. I made a mistake and he got past, but to ultimately take the win is fantastic.
“I hope we can get more race wins. I’m still working on my starts, today was a bit of a fluke, but I’ll be chipping away and hopefully get some strong results in the next two races.”
Shane Smollen was the winning TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge driver from Steven Grove and Ash Samadi.
Be sure to watch every Porsche Carrera Cup Australia session at Sydney Motorsport Park live throughout the weekend on Fox Sports 5.
Race Schedule
Saturday August 22, 2015
3:40pm – Race 2 (19 laps)
Sunday August 23, 2015
12:45pm – Race 3 (19 laps)
Broadcast Schedule
Saturday August 22, 2015
3:40pm – Race 2 (Fox Sports 5, Channel 506)
Sunday August 23, 2015
12:45pm – Race 3 (Fox Sports 5, Channel 506)
Race 1 Results
1. #7 Matt Campbell (Phase 8 /Nuveau Constructions) 17 laps, 26:19.2333s
2. #777 Nick Foster (Bob Jane T-Marts) 17 laps, 26:22.5190s
3. #1 Steven Richards (Laser Plumbing & Electrical) 17 laps, 26:25.0857s
4. #88 Shae Davies (Davbridge Constructions) 17 laps, 26:25.3016s
5. #10 David Russell (Finanze Ezi) 17 laps, 26:29.0694s
6. #8 Craig Baird (Porsche Centre Melbourne) 17 laps, 26:29.3409s
7. #25 John Martin (Copyworld) 17 laps, 26:35.8172s
8. #77 Nick McBride (Bob Jane T-Marts) 17 laps, 26:39.0227s
9. #65 Fraser Ross (Porsche Centre Brighton) 17 laps, 26:45.4611s
10. #26 Michael Almond (Copyworld) 17 laps, 26:48.2623s
11. #11 Simon Hodge (Team BRM) 17 laps, 26:52.4916s
12. #45 Duvashen Padayachee (Darrell Lea STIX) 17 laps, 26:52.9375s
13. #56 Shane Smollen (McGrath Estate Agents) 17 laps, 26:58.8244s
14. #4 Stephen Grove (Grove Group) 17 laps, 27:08.4319s
15. #6 Ash Samadi (Apartment Hotel) 17 laps, 27:09.1644s
16. #13 James Bergmuller (MotorOne Car Care) 17 laps, 27:09.4755s
17. #222 Scott Taylor (Scott Taylor Motorsport) 17 laps, 27:20.1513s
18. #9 Marc Cini (Hallmarc) 17 laps, 27:21.8694s
DNF #22 Richard Muscat (Wilson Security / PAYCE/Genis Steel) 2 laps, 3:32.1790s
DNF #39 Adrian Mastronardo (Veritas/Builtform)
