DOUBLE DUTIES are proving no deterrent to success for Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia contenders on day one of the AirTouch 500 at The Bend today.ย
David Russell and Harri Jones – both co-drivers in the Supercars enduro this weekend – topped today’s running following a pair of 30-minute practice sessions at the South Australian Circuit despite bouncing between Porsche 992 GT3 Cup Car and Supercar today.
Russell’s 1m49.9489s flyer late in practice two was the only sub-1m50 lap recorded today and saw the TekworkX racer top the Equity-One professional class by just under three-tenths of a second, with Jones second.
Jones’ nearest title rival, Dylan O’Keeffe, ended the day third and just behind his key rival for this year’s Carrera Cup crown, while Marcus Amand started his second local round in strong form with fourth.
A welcome return to local form for Porsche Michelin Junior Oscar Targett saw the EBM driver end the day in fifth position, fresh from a podium finish in the most recent round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Championship in Indonesia.
Sonic’s Marcos Flack was sixth, Dale Wood ensured the trio of drivers doing double duty all ended the day in the top seven while Ange Mouzouris, local Max Vidau and Glen Wood completed the top-10.
Just one second covered the top 14 cars today with the entire Equity-One Pro field covered by 1.7s.
Notables outside of the top 10 included Bayley Hall – who sits third in the championship – who ended the day 15th – just behind Caleb Sumich, who is coming off a career-best qualifying weekend in Queensland.
Sam Shahin topped the runners in the Pro-Am class with Matt Belford second and the returning Dean Cook third.
The day was relatively free of incident for a majority of the field, though Hamish Fitzsimmons found the concrete in practice one after a braking issue saw him struggle to slow at turn one early in the session.
Meanwhile, the second session was paused with a Red Flag momentarily for a working vehicle in an unsafe position.
Several returning drivers enjoyed strong performances with the local hope Max Vidau strong, while Christian Pancione returned to the series in style in the first session to finish second, before ending 13th in the second practice.
Tomorrow will see the battle for the TAG Heuer pole award and race one contested at The Bend, both sessions to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 506 and Kayo Sports – plus Sky NZ.
