Nick Foster has turned a seemingly impossible task into reality at Sandown: taking the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia championship lead after a horror start to 2015.

Foster failed to score points in the opening four races of the 2015 season and, after round two, trailed the standings leader Steven Richards by 298 points. With two impressive Sandown race wins on Saturday and seven races remaining in 2015, the 23-year-old holds a narrow 0.5 point lead in the standing.

Foster won the opening Sandown race in spectacular circumstances; Matt Campbell attempted to pass on the final lap, though Foster regained the lead and ultimately won from Campbell, Richard Muscat, David Russell and newcomers John Magro and Aaron Seton in fifth and sixth, respectively.

Importantly for Foster’s championship chase, both Richards and second-placed Craig Baird failed to finish.

While Richards and Baird started race two from the rear, Foster was unchallenged at the front to take his seventh win of the season, ninth straight top-two result and a seemingly impossible lead of the championship points.

“The first race didn’t go as planned; it was a lot harder and a bit of a wild race at the end, but we got the job done. The second race went much better; Matt was quick early and our car improved throughout the race and I was able to pull a gap in the closing laps. Let’s hope tomorrow brings similar results,” said Foster.

Foster added that he never lost faith in his ability, despite the poor start to the season.

“I said at the Clipsal 500 after I crashed and was out for the weekend that we had the speed to be an unstoppable force. We knew we had the speed and I had to work on smoothing out some rough edges.

“All the best stories feature adversity and hopefully this is a fairy tale for us by the end of the season. At the end of the day, there are still two rounds to go. I’m sure there’s much more to unfold in this story.”

Campbell placed second in race two from Muscat and Russell, with Michael Almond and Fraser Ross posting their season best results of fifth and sixth, respectively.

“I have improved over the last two rounds to consistently become a top 10 contender. It was great to be up the order in race two, battle with Michael and get my season best result of 6th at my home race,” said Ross.

Tony Bates was the star TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge performer on Saturday. The Victorian claimed the TAG Heuer Pole Position in the class and stormed to two dominate TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge race wins. By Bates’s own admission the class title is out of reach, so he suggests his focus for the remainder of the season is on race victories.

“My pace is great and I think I’m only around a second off the quickest professional driver. I won fairly convincingly in the Challenge class in the second race. The car feels great and my confidence is high so I’ll aim to finish off the job tomorrow with another class win.”

Bates’s race one performance saw him not only win the class, but finish seventh outright – a season best outright result. Shane Smollen finished second in the class in race one from James Bergmuller, Stephen Grove, Ash Samadi, Marc Cini and Adrian Mastronardo.

In race two, Bates claimed his second class win in as many races from Grove, Smollen, Mastronardo, Cini, Samadi and Bergmuller.

The final race of the Sandown round will be held at 12:10pm on Sunday, just before the feature Sandown 500 V8 Supercars race.

Saturday Videos
Qualifying interviews

Race 1 interviews

Race 2 interviews

Race Schedule
Sunday September 13
12:10pm – Race 3 (19 laps)

Broadcast Schedule
Channel: TEN
Race 3 – 12:10pm, Sunday September 13
Channel: Fox Sports 5 (Channel 506)
Race 3 – 12:10pm, Sunday September 13

Race 1 Results
1. #777 Nick Foster (Professional) Bob Jane T-Marts – 14 laps, 16:42.3083s
2. #7 Matt Campbell (Professional) Phase 8/Nuveau Constructions – 14 laps, 16:44.0409s
3. #22 Richard Muscat (Professional) Wilson Security / PAYCE – 14 laps, 16:45.7098s
4. #10 David Russell (Professional) Finance Ezi – 14 laps, 16:47.5428s
5. #11 John Magro (Professional) Team BRM – 14 laps, 16:54.5358s
6. #222 Aaron Seton (Professional) Scott Taylor Motorsport – 14 laps, 17:00.5340s
7. #24 Tony Bates (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) AFS/Fleetguard – 14 laps, 17:09.0430s
8. #26 Michael Almond (Professional) Copyworld – 14 laps, 17:11.7429s
9. #56 Shane Smollen (Carrera Challenge) McGrath Estate Agents – 14 laps, 17:17.1076s
10. #65 Fraser Ross (Professional) Porsche Centre Brighton – 14 laps, 17:17.5320s
11. #13 James Bergmuller (Carrera Challenge) MotorOne Car Care – 14 laps, 17:18.0102s
12. #88 Shae Davies (Professional) Davbridge Constructions – 14 laps, 17:21.2696s
13. #4 Stephen Grove (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Grove Group – 14 laps, 17:23.9015s
14. #6 Ash Samadi (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Apartment Hotel – 14 laps, 17:24.1387s
15. #9 Marc Cini (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Hallmarc – 14 laps, 17:24.5671s
16. #39 Adrian Mastronardo (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Veritas – 14 laps, 17:30.8123s
17. #77 Nick McBride (Professional) Bob Jane T-Marts – 13 laps, 17:10.8587s
DNF #1 Steven Richards (Professional) Laser Plumbing & Electrical – 12 laps, 14:24.4037s
DNF #25 John Martin (Professional) Copyworld – 3 laps, 3:41.6964s
DNF #8 Craig Baird (Professional) Porsche Centre Melbourne
DNF #45 Duvashen Padayachee (Professional) Darrell Lea STIX

Race 2 Results
1. #777 Nick Foster (Professional) Bob Jane T-Marts – 17 laps, 20:12.5493s
2. #7 Matt Campbell (Professional) Phase 8/Nuveau Constructions – 17 laps, 20:13.0608s
3. #22 Richard Muscat (Professional) Wilson Security / PAYCE – 17 laps, 20:16.5013s
4. #10 David Russell (Professional) Finance Ezi – 17 laps, 20:22.2869s
5. #26 Michael Almond (Professional) Copyworld – 17 laps, 20:26.1196s
6. #65 Fraser Ross (Professional) Porsche Centre Brighton – 17 laps, 20:27.0833s
7. #1 Steven Richards (Professional) Laser Plumbing & Electrical – 17 laps, 20:30.5358s
8. #11 John Magro (Professional) Team BRM – 17 laps, 20:32.9343s
9. #25 John Martin (Professional) Copyworld – 17 laps, 20:34.1270s
10. #8 Craig Baird (Professional) Porsche Centre Melbourne – 17 laps, 20:37.1721s
11. #77 Nick McBride (Professional) Bob Jane T-Marts – 17 laps, 20:37.5876s
12. #222 Aaron Seton (Professional) Scott Taylor Motorsport – 17 laps, 20:39.1367s
13. #88 Shae Davies (Professional) Davbridge Constructions – 17 laps, 20:41.1350s
14. #24 Tony Bates (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) AFS/Fleetguard – 17 laps, 20:43.9589s
15. #4 Stephen Grove (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Grove Group – 17 laps, 21:05.0386s
16. #56 Shane Smollen (Carrera Challenge) McGrath Estate Agents – 17 laps, 21:05.3204s
17. #45 Duvashen Padayachee (Professional) Darrell Lea STIX – 17 laps, 21:05.5492s
18. #39 Adrian Mastronardo (Carrera Challenge) Veritas/Builtform – 17 laps, 21:07.8414s
19. #9 Marc Cini (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Hallmarc – 17 laps, 21:08.2201s
20. #6 Ash Samadi (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Apartment Hotel – 17 laps, 21:11.0173s
21. #13 James Bergmuller (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) MotorOne Car Care – 17 laps, 21:23.5038s