DAVID RUSSELL has claimed the first Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship Enduro Cup race of the season, sweeping from fourth on the grid to claim the 45-minute encounter on Sunday morning in Taupo.
In a chaotic start, Russell dodged a stalled Harri Jones to make early ground in the race, which commenced on a drying track that remained wet off line.
He then passed early leader and polesitter Dylan O’Keeffe to grab a lead he’d never lose, powering to his second win from as many starts in Carrera Cup’s first New Zealand round to take not only the Enduro Cup opener, but the Equity One Pro-Class too.
He now leads the standings heading into the final race and will start from pole position for the sprint race finale’ later on Sunday.
Jackson Walls charged from 12th on the grid to second to score a haul of championship points following a frustrating start to his 2024 campaign.
Nash Morris raced cleanly all race to score his first top three finish of his Carrera Cup campaign, running just two seconds behind the leaders for much of the race.
Dale Wood rebounded from a tough Saturday to finish fourth while O’Keeffe slipped to fifth position having led early.
He had to fend off Fabian Coulthard for much of the second half of the race with Bayley Hall, Marcos Flack, Glen Wood and Ange Mouzouris completing the top-10.
The drama commenced early as Harri Jones stalled at the start, forcing the field to take evasive action around the car starting from the outside of the front row.
Behind there was further chaos as Marco Giltrap also stalled, being clipped by Lachlan Bloxsom on his way through and removing both from the race.
Further behind, Dean Cook’s flying start resulted in a non-finish after he and Harrison Goodman bumped, forcing Cook across the circuit and into the fence.
The Safety Car was called early while the circuit was cleared prior to racing resuming.
Jones’ comeback trail resulted in 10th position at the line, however a 15-second penalty following contact with Ryder Quinn dropped him back to 13th at the finish – though he still scored the fastest lap of the race.
in SP Tools Pro-Am, Adrian Flack had things his own way on his pathway to a second win from two races, while Sam Fillmore raced his way though to second despite an early stop.
The IMS Racing driver had started on wets however switched to slicks during the early Safety Car to score second in class, ahead of Rick Armstrong.
The final race will see Russell start from pole position ahead of Morris, Walls and Mouzouris, while Flack will lead Fillmore away in SP Tools Pro-Am.