HARRI JONES has won a fourth consecutive Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia championship round by a single point following a dramatic conclusion to Round 6 at Mount Panorama, Bathurst.
He led home David Russell and Dale Wood in the Equity-One Professional class round results, while Adrian Flack claimed SP Tools Pro-Am over Rodney Jane and Matt Slavin in a dramatic round.
David Russell claimed his third race win of the year on Sunday at the Mountain as early leader Jones struck debris and slipped from the lead to fourth place early in the final 20-minute sprint race.
Jones’ had once again burst into an early lead from pole position however stuck debris at The Chase on the opening lap.
The impact tore the front splitter from his Porsche Centre Melbourne entry in the 250km/hr braking zone for the right-hander, forcing him to lock his front brakes and run off the road at high speed.
That handed the lead to David Russell, with Dale Wood second and a flying Jackson Walls third – Jones slipping back to fourth.
That order would have handed the round result to Russell’s TekworkX entry, potentially ending Jones’ streak of victories – however the race wasn’t done yet as Walls launched an attack on Wood for second position on the fifth lap at Murray’s Corner.
He clipped the inside kerb, which spun his Objective Porsche out of a potential podium position and handed Jones’ third place on the road.
That result was critical to the weekend overall as it gave the championship leader the round points lead by a single marker over Russell.
The leading trio finished in that order, Russell claiming his third race win of the season and eighth of his Carrera Cup career.
It also moves the TekworkX driver into second in the championship after challenging weekends for Jackson Walls and Dylan O’Keeffe put them behind in a furious fight for the runner-up spot in the the title race.
Fabian Coulthard continued his trend of moving forward across Carrera Cup rounds by racing to fourth following a feisty dice with David Wall, Bayley Hall, Glen Wood, Ryder Quinn, a recovering Walls and Ange Mouzouris completing the top-10.
Jones fourth consecutive round win continues his impact on the Carrera Cup record books – the feat just the fourth time in history that it has been achieved; Porsche legends Alex Davison (6 straight), Jim Richards and Craig Baird (four straight) the others.
Adrian Flack rebounded from a tough opening race to claim the SP Tools Pro-Am round by winning an eventful race three that saw plenty of drama.
Matt Slavin finished second in the race and Drew Hall third in his best ever Carrera Cup Pro-Am race finish.
Rodney Jane’s hopes of a Bathurst round win were diminished as he dropped down the order early in the race, while Sam Shahin’s weekend came to an end after a spin at the dipper saw his The Bend car stranded after hefty frontal contact with the wall.
Both Jones and Flack can not be topped in the lead of their respective classes at the next round of the championship at Surfers Paradise in two weeks time – both drivers assured of leading the way into the Adelaide finale’ in November.
The next round of the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship will be held on the streets of Surfers Paradise at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 in two weeks time.