The Reid Park Circuit on the streets of Townsville will host round 3 of the 2021 Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia series this weekend. The decision to contest the NTI Townsville 500 event followed an anxious wait for many teams, due to the recent travel restrictions – brought about by outbreaks of the Coronavirus pandemic in many states. As a result of the restrictions still in place for parts of Sydney, Tim Miles, Jackson Walls, Drew Hall and Indiran Padayachee will miss out this round, reducing the field size to 22 cars.
The 127th round in series history sees Cameron Hill enter as the hot favourite in the Mobil Pro class after his Squadra Bespoke liveried 911 GT3 Cup car set the pace at The Bend Motorsport Park last time out. In the process Hill became just the seventh driver in series history to win three consecutive rounds and should the Canberra resident take the round win again in Queensland this weekend, he would join an illustrious group of drivers including Craig Baird (2008), Jim Richards (2003) and Alex Davison (six-straight across 2003/2004) to ever achieve the feat.
Hill as a result, currently enjoys a healthy lead in the championship from Harri Jones (Helimods) and David Wall (Paynter Dixon / Shannons Insurance). Cooper Murray (Phase 8 / McElrea Racing) currently lies fourth overall and will be hoping to repeat his 2019 clean sweep, which saw him become Carrera Cup Australia’s youngest ever race and round winner.
Others to watch among the 15-strong Mobil Pro field include the likes of Dale Wood, Aaron Love, Nick McBride and Michael Almond – the latter pairing celebrating their 150th Carrera Cup race starts over the course of the weekend. It will also be interesting to witness how series newcomers Matthew Payne and Kyle Gurton fare among their highly experienced competition which includes the likes of Supercar stars such as Luke Youlden, Craig Lowndes and David Russell.
Stephen Grove will be looking to regain some lost ground on his Morris Finance Pro-Am rivals after not contesting Round 2. Sam Shahin as a result, leads the class for the first time in his career and the South Australian will resume his battle with Geoff Emery, Adrian Flack, Scott Taylor and Marc Cini.
After two practice sessions on the Friday, teams contest a 25-minute qualifying on Saturday morning followed by the first Sprint race that afternoon. A 40-minute Endurance race follows early on Sunday morning before the final race of the weekend on Sunday afternoon. All three races will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo Sports, with live free-to-air coverage of both races 1 and 3 also available on Channel 7.
For more Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia news follow the Porsche Motorsport Australia social pages: Instagram – @PorscheMotorsportAU / Twitter – @PorscheMspAU / Facebook.com/ PorscheMotorsportAU
ENTRY LIST: Round 3, NTI Townsville 500
| # | Name | Surname | CLASS | SPONSOR NAME |
| 4 | Stephen | Grove | Morris Finance Pro-Am | Grove Group |
| 8 | Nick | McBride | Mobil Pro | Porsche Centre Melbourne |
| 9 | Marc | Cini | Morris Finance Pro-Am | Hallmarc |
| 12 | Harri | Jones | Mobil Pro | Helimods |
| 13 | Sam | Shahin | Morris Finance Pro-Am | The Bend Motorsport Park/HTFU |
| 20 | Adrian | Flack | Morris Finance Pro-Am | AGAS National |
| 21 | Matthew | Payne | Mobil Pro | Team Porsche NZ / EBM |
| 22 | Dean | Cook | Morris Finance Pro-Am | Zonzo Estate Yarra Valley |
| 23 | David | Russell | Mobil Pro | Lago Racing |
| 28 | Luke | Youlden | Mobil Pro | TekworkX Motorsport |
| 36 | Cooper | Murray | Mobil Pro | Phase 8 |
| 38 | David | Wall | Mobil Pro | Paynter Dixon / Shannons |
| 48 | Geoff | Emery | Morris Finance Pro-Am | Force Accessories |
| 74 | Kyle | Gurton | Mobil Pro | Dutton EMA Motorsport |
| 76 | Christian | Pancione | Mobil Pro | VCM Performance |
| 77 | Michael | Almond | Mobil Pro | Bob Jane T-Marts / PSA |
| 78 | Aaron | Love | Mobil Pro | Sonic |
| 100 | Dale | Wood | Mobil Pro | Timken / ASM |
| 111 | Cameron | Hill | Mobil Pro | Squadra Bespoke |
| 222 | Scott | Taylor | Morris Finance Pro-Am | Scott Taylor Motorsport |
| 338 | Craig | Lowndes | Mobil Pro | Paynter Dixon / Shannons |
| 777 | Simon | Fallon | Mobil Pro | Bob Jane T-Marts / Sonic |
BROADCAST SCHEDULE: Round 3, NTI Townsville 500
Saturday 10 July 2021
Qualifying 09:55-10:20 25 mins Fox Sports 506/Kayo Sports
Race 1 13:45-14:10 17 laps Fox Sports 506/Kayo Sports/Channel 7
Sunday 11 July 2021
Race 2 08:50-09:30 28 laps Fox Sports 506/Kayo Sports
Race 3 12:45-13:10 17 laps Fox Sports 506/Kayo Sports/Channel 7
Townsville Lap Records
Qualifying – Roger Lago (Lago Racing) 1m13.5702s 2019
Race – Jonny Reid (McElrea Racing) 1m14.0389s 2011