Steven Richards and Tony Bates have claimed first spoils in the opening race of the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia presented by Michelin season as the championship started with confusion and controversy.

What should have been an additional formation lap turned into a race start after drivers were shown a five-second board after the car driven by Duvashen Padayachee drove slowly off the grid onto the pit apron with a broken driveshaft.

Some drivers were caught out in the confusion but this did not matter to Richards who led the field into the first corner after pole-sitter Nick Foster was unable to make the start due to broken driveshaft on the warm-up lap.

Once teams got into a rhythm Richards continued at the front and ultimately claim the first race win of the season; his second Porsche victory at the Adelaide circuit. Carrera Cup returnee David Russell finished second, two seconds behind the race winner, with Nick McBride and Craig Baird placing a close third and fourth, respectively.

Australian GT champion Richard Muscat began his maiden full-time Carrera Cup season with a strong fifth place from former V8 ace Cam McConville, Michael Almond, debutant Fraser Ross and Bates in ninth, while Simon Hodge, a victim of the race start confusion, finished in 10th.

The reigning champion Richards was pleased with the outcome of his race despite the contentious race start.

“That’s the way you want to kick off the season. There was a bit of confusion at the start, we were told on the radio there was a formation lap and then the red lights went out and away we went. I just got the car started and into gear as the lights went out,” said Richards.

“It’s a nice way to start the weekend. We’ll have a good look at the car now, give it a polish and see how it goes tomorrow.”

Tony Bates followed his top qualifying performance with TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge race victory despite an eventful race of his own.

Bates was clear in the class lead but was turned around mid-race at turn nine, dropping him down the order. Roger Lago inherited the lead however was handed a 10-second post-race penalty for kerb hopping, handing the class win to Bates.

“I was holding on to Cam McConville there for a while and unfortunately I was turned around while I was clear of any other Challenge driver, but as it turns out we still won the race after all the race incidents and penalties,” said Bates, who received a four grid-spot penalty for a dangerous circuit re-entry following his spin.

“It’s still a good result, but now I have the challenge of starting behind a couple of Challenge drivers now. But the way I raced today makes me confident of another strong performance tomorrow.”

Stephen Grove finished second in the class from Lago, Ash Samadi, Marc Cini, Shane Smollen, who wore the brunt of Bates’s re-entry, and Scott Taylor.

Foster and Padayachee were not the only ones to have start-line woes as Adrian Mastronardo, who was very impressive in practice, also could not make the warm-up lap due to a mechanical issue.

Young gun Matt Campbell failed to finish with clutch issues while former open wheel driver Spike Goddard made contact with the barrier at the opening chicane complex with three laps to go, sustaining race ending damage while running an impressive sixth place on debut.

Porsche Carrera Cup Australia presented by Michelin will hold its second race of the weekend tomorrow at 9:40am followed by its final race on Sunday immediately before the Sunday V8 Supercar endurance race.

Race Schedule
Saturday February 28, 2015
9:40am-10:00am – Race 2
Sunday March 1, 2015
12:50pm-1:10pm – Race 3

Broadcast Schedule
Ten (Channel 10)
Race 2 – 11:40am local time (12:10pm AEST)
Sunday March 01, 2015
Race 3 – 1:00pm local time (1:30pm AEST)

Fox Sports 5 (Channel 506) Every session live!
Saturday February 28, 2015
Race 2 – 9:40am local time (10:10am AEST)
Sunday March 01, 2015
Race 3 – 12:50pm local time (1:20pm AEST)

Qualifying results
1 Nick Foster (Professional) – 01:21.9
2 Steven Richards (Professional) – 01:22.2 (-00:00.3)
3 Nick McBride (Professional) – 01:22.4 (-00:00.5)
4 David Russell (Professional) – 01:22.7 (-00:00.8)
5 Duvashen Padayachee (Professional) – 1:22.8 (-00:00.9)
6 Richard Muscat (Professional) – 01:23.1 (-00:01.2)
7 Craig Baird (Professional) – 01:23.1 (-00:01.3)
8 Cam McConville (Professional) – 01:23.5 (-00:01.6)
9 Simon Hodge (Professional) – 01:23.6 (-00:01.7)
10 Spike Goddard (Professional) – 01:23.9 (-00:02.0)
11 Tony Bates (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) – 01:23.9 (-00:02.1)
12 Matt Campbell (Professional) – 01:24.1 (-00:02.2)
13 Michael Almond (Professional) – 01:24.1 (-00:02.3)
14 Roger Lago (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) – 01:24.2 (-00:02.3)
15 Stephen Grove (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) – 01:24.7 (-00:02.8)
16 Shane Smollen (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) – 01:24.7 (-00:02.8)
17 Fraser Ross (Professional) – 01:24.8 (-00:02.9)
18 Marc Cini (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) – 01:25.1 (-00:03.3)
19 Ash Samadi (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) – 01:25.4 (-00:03.6)
20 James Bergmuller (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) – 01:25.5 (-00:03.6)
21 Adrian Mastronardo (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) – 01:25.6 (-00:03.7)
22 Scott Taylor (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) – 01:30.3 (-00:08.5)

Race 1 results
1 Steven Richards (Professional) 12 laps – 16:49.4
2 David Russell (Professional) 12 laps – 16:51.4
3 Nick McBride (Professional) 12 laps – 16:52.4
4 Craig Baird (Professional) 12 laps – 16:52.8
5 Richard Muscat (Professional) 12 laps – 16:54.8
6 Cam McConville (Professional) 12 laps – 17:02.3
7 Michael Almond (Professional) 12 laps – 17:06.7
8 Fraser Ross (Professional) 12 laps – 17:18.6
9 Tony Bates (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) 12 laps – 17:23.1
10 Simon Hodge (Professional) 12 laps – 17:23.2
11 Stephen Grove (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) 12 laps – 17:29.0
12 Roger Lago (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) 12 laps – 17:31.3
13 Ash Samadi (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) 12 laps – 17:31.4
14 Marc Cini (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) 12 laps – 17:47.7
15 Shane Smollen (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) 12 laps – 18:00.7
16 Scott Taylor (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) 12 laps – 18:02.3
DNF Spike Goddard (Professional) 10 laps – 14:09.4
DNF Nick Foster (Professional)
DNF Duvashen Padayachee (Professional)
DNF Matt Campbell (Professional)
DNF Adrian Mastronardo (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge)