THE PORSCHE Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship returns to Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway for the 10^th time at this weekend’s Betr Darwin Triple Crown.

It’s the second round of the 2023 championship, with a long break between the season opener at the Australian Grand Prix in March and this weekend’s event in the top end.

Currently Objective Racing / McElrea Racing driver Jackson Walls and Tyrepower TekworkX star Max Vidau share the lead in the outright and Equity One Pro title races after scoring the same points at Albert Park, though Walls’ claimed his maiden round win on countback by virtue of winning the final race.

Kiwi Callum Hedge sits third in the standings aboard his Team Porsche NZ / Earl Bamber Motorsport entry with Dale Wood and Nick McBride completing the top five.

Meanwhile, Adrian Flack leads the SP Tools Pro-Am class after sweeping the two races contested in Melbourne, with Rodney Jane – fresh from a trip to race at Le Mans last week – and Dean Cook next.

The 28-strong Darwin field includes the return of 2005 champion, Fabian Coulthard, who joins BWT Porsche Centre Melbourne Motorsport’s Courtney Prince in a revised attack from the Melbourne-based team.

Coulthard joins fellow former champion David Wall (2017) and Alex Davison (2004) on the grid in one of the most packed fields of proven Porsche talent the series has ever seen.

The Darwin field accounts for 103 race victories – almost one quarter of every race the series has contested – and 38 round victories.

Davison is the only driver to have claimed multiple Darwin round victories, winning in 2004 and again in 2016.

While Coulthard links with Porsche Centre Melbourne Motorsport, the returning Melbourne Performance Centre squad will make a comeback to the championship this weekend following a more than decade-long absence.

The multiple GT World Challenge Australia title-winning outfit will field three cars, for Equity One Pro driver Nick McBride, and SP Tools Pro-Am contenders Marc Cini and Matt Belford.

Meanwhile, Dale Wood will become the 26^th driver to reach the ‘100 club’ of drivers to have started a century of Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Races.

Wood will reach the milestone in the third of three races this weekend.

The Victorian made his Carrera Cup debut in 2013 and has raced full-time in the series since 2018. The runner-up in the 2019 championship, Wood has won 3 rounds and 12 races in his career – his last race and round wins coming in Darwin.

Wood also has four pole positions – his most recent in Darwin last year as well.

Territorian driver Thomas Maxwell will also make his Hidden Valley return this weekend as he embarks on his second full season in Carrera Cup – the only local driver on the Porsche grid this weekend.

2023 marks the second year the current Type-992 Porsche GT3 Cup car will have tackled Hidden Valley’s 2.87km, the latest example of Porsche’s one-make racer establishing new qualifying and race lap records on its debut there in 2022.

Dale Wood (1m06.5556s) owns the qualifying record, while Christian Pancione (1m07.5065s) the race record.

Wood claimed the 2022 round at the venue, his most recent round and race wins in Carrera Cup.

The series will contest three races this weekend at the Betr Darwin Triple Crown.

All three days of racing will be broadcast, with action commencing on Friday with a pair of two practice sessions.

Qualifying will be held in two parts – for Pro and Pro Am runners – on Saturday morning before Race 1 on Saturday afternoon.

Races 2 & 3 will be held on Sunday, with the first and third races of the weekend to be shown live on the Seven Network around Australia.

All other sessions will be broadcast on Fox Sports 506 and Kayo Sports this weekend.

ENTRY LIST – ROUND 2

No.	Class	Car #	Sponsor Name	Driver First Name	Driver Second Name
1	Pro	2	Wall Racing / MOUTAI	Luke	King
2	Pro	3	Porsche Centre Melbourne	Fabian	Coulthard
3	Pro	5	TekworkX Motorsport	Thomas	Maxwell
4	Pro-Am	7	Miles Advisory Partners	Tim	Miles
5	Pro	8	Hallmarc	Nick	McBride
6	Pro-Am	9	Hallmarc	Marc	Cini
7	Pro	11	Objective Racing	Jackson	Walls
8	Pro-Am	13	The Bend Motorsport Park	Sam	Shahin
9	Pro-Am	14	ID Land	Matthew	Belford
10	Pro	17	Team Porsche New Zealand / EBM	Callum	Hedge
11	Pro-Am	20	Agas National	Adrian	Flack
12	Pro-Am	22	Dexion / RAM Motorsport	Dean	Cook
13	Pro-Am	23	TekworkX Motorsport	Daniel	Stutterd
14	Pro	28	Hall Finance / Insurance Solutions	Bayley	Hall
15	Pro	32	Porsche Centre Melbourne / BWT	Courtney	Prince
16	Pro	38	Wall Racing	David	Wall
17	Pro	42	Coca-Cola Racing powered by EMA	Chris	Pither
18	Pro	72	TekworkX Motorsport / Tyrepower	Max	Vidau
19	Pro	74	EMA Motorsport	Garnet	Patterson
20	Pro	76	VCM Performance / HP Tuners	Christian	Pancione
21	Pro-Am	77	Sonic Motor Racing Services / Bob Jane T Marts	Rodney	Jane
22	Pro	88	Dexion / RAM Motorsport	Dylan	O’Keeffe
23	Pro	99	Earl Bamber Motorsport	David	Russell
24	Pro	101	Local Legends	Ryder	Quinn
25	Pro	222	Scott Taylor Motorsport	Alex	Davison
26	Pro	777	Sonic Motor Racing Services / Bob Jane T Marts / Bremtech	Simon	Fallon
27	Pro	992	Porsche Centre Brighton Motorsport / EBM	Dale	Wood
28	Pro	999	Sonic Motor Racing Services / Bob Jane T Marts / Pitbox	Angelo	Mouzouris

HIDDEN VALLEY ROUND WINNERS

2003     Tim Leahey
2004     Alex Davison
2006     Craig Baird
2007     David Reynolds
2016     Alex Davison
2017     Jaxon Evans
2018     Dylan O’Keeffe
2019     Michael Almond
2022     Dale Wood

HIDDEN VALLEY POLE POSITIONS

2003 Jim Richards           1m10.4116s
2004 Jim Richards           1m10.4029s
2006 Alex Davison           1m09.5227s
2007 Alex Davison           1m09.4004s
2016 Matt Campbell       1m07.5609s
2017 David Wall               1m08.0158s
2018 David Wall               1m07.2438s
2019 Cameron Hill           1m07.4406s
2022 Dale Wood              1m06.5566s

HIDDEN VALLEY TAG HEUER PRO-AM ROUND WINNERS

2004 Stephen Borness
2006 Tony Quinn
2007 Rodney Jane
2016 Shane Smollen
2017 Sam Shahin
2018 Stephen Grove
2019 Adrian Flack
2022 Liam Talbot