Steven Richards has held off a hard charging Cam McConville to take race two victory at Albert Park as Max Twigg continued his class domination in the 250th Porsche Carrera Cup Australia presented by Hallmarc championship race.

Richards led from the start with McConville in second, passing pole-sitter Nick McBride into the opening corner.

Reigning champion Richards looked to be in control of the race until the closing laps when McConville closed to be within striking distance of the win. Richards held onto the lead, taking his fourth 2015 race win, 12th career win and his third victory at Albert Park in as many seasons.

“That was a great win. We had the tyre pressures a little higher than we should. It was a good start and a strong first five laps, which was enough to maintain the balance of the car as the rear tyres faded,” said Richards.

“We’ve got to consolidate these points while the young guys are still trying to get up to speed on a track they probably haven’t driven as much. They will come on pretty strong in the next few rounds.”

McConville finished less than a second adrift of Richards in second place, the result his best in Carrera Cup to date.

“It’s a thrill, to be honest. I thought I’d be stronger here than at Clipsal 500 because I’ve done more laps around Albert Park. The car has been great since we got here and it’s great to race my old mate Richards, but I didn’t quite have enough tyre life at the end there to get him. I’m confident we can have a crack at the win tomorrow.”

Race 1 victor McBride finished third, leading home a close battle of Craig Baird, Shae Davies and Richard Muscat, while Matt Campbell, David Russell and Michael Almond pleased seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively, after a bumper-to-bumper battle in the closing laps. The biggest mover of the race, Nick Foster, finished 10th after charging through from 22nd on the grid.

Max Twigg repeated his impressive performance in the TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge, taking his second class win of the event and 11th outright; his 14th class race win at Albert Park from the 18 championship races held – a remarkable 77 per cent race win conversion.

“I’m happy because my pace at the end of the race was pretty similar to the front guys. I just need to work out how I can be a little faster in the first four laps because that’s where I lose some time. I’m rapt; to race at this track and be at the front of the Challenge class again is a real buzz,” said Twigg.

Fraser Ross and Duvashen Padayachee finished 12th and 13th, respectively, while Tony Bates and Roger Lago capitalised on an off-track excursion from Shane Smollen on the third-to-last lap to take second and third in class and 14th and 15th outright.

Spike Goddard placed 16th from Smollen, who dropped to fourth in class, Stephen Grove, Marc Cini, Adrian Mastronardo, Ash Samadi, James Bergmuller and Scott Taylor in 23th outright.

Simon Hodge failed to finish after contacting the concrete barrier on lap six.

Porsche Carrera Cup Australia presented by Hallmarc will hold its third and final race of the weekend on Sunday.

Race Schedule
Sunday March 15, 2015
12:55pm-1:20pm – Race 3

Broadcast Schedule
Race 3
Date: Sunday March 15, 2015
Time: 12:55pm (AEDT)
Channel: TEN

Race 2 results
1. Steven Richards (Professional) 10 laps – 20:09.0
2. Cam McConville (Professional) 10 laps – 20:09.4
3. Nick McBride (Professional) 10 laps – 20:12.1
4. Craig Baird (Professional) 10 laps – 20:12.6
5. Shae Davies (Professional) 10 laps – 20:13.1
6. Richard Muscat (Professional) 10 laps – 20:13.9
7. Matt Campbell (Professional) 10 laps – 20:15.0
8. David Russell (Professional) 10 laps – 20:16.5
9. Michael Almond (Professional) 10 laps – 20:18.9
10. Nick Foster (Professional) 10 laps – 20:20.0
11 Max Twigg (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) 10 laps – 20:28.2
12. Fraser Ross (Professional) 10 laps – 20:28.6
13. Duvashen Padayachee (Professional) 10 laps – 20:34.1
14. Tony Bates (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) 10 laps – 20:43.5
15. Roger Lago (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) 10 laps – 20:43.8
16. Spike Goddard (Professional) 10 laps – 20:45.5
17. Shane Smollen (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) 10 laps – 20:46.6
18. Stephen Grove (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) 10 laps – 20:55.7
19. Marc Cini (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) 10 laps – 20:58.3
20. Adrian Mastronardo (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) 10 laps – 21:02.0
21. Ash Samadi (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) 10 laps – 21:02.3
22. James Bergmuller (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) 10 laps – 21:15.4
23. Scott Taylor (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) 10 laps – 21:16.0
DNF Simon Hodge (Professional) 5 laps – 10:28.8