Matt Campbell continued his Bathurst brilliance in Saturday’s race two with his 10th win of the season, while Tony Bates bounced back to claim the TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge race victory and Marc Cini reached an unprecedented 250 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia presented by Hytera race starts.
Unlike Friday’s opening race, Campbell was able to beat David Wall to the opening corner and led the race from its outset. The 21-year-old then produced a comfortable lead until the safety car was called to the circuit on lap seven, which remained at the head of the field for the remainder of the nine lap race.
The win was Campbell’s seventh in eight races and extends his series lead to 73.5 points with four races remaining for the season.
“I love this place and I’m very happy to get the race two win, but there’s still one more to go and a big day ahead for me tomorrow,” said Campbell, who will also contest his debut Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 event alongside Todd Kelly.
“I had a better start than in race one and got a great exit from turn one up Mountain Straight. I slowly pulled away from Steven Richards and then the safety car came out, which isn’t what we want, but a win is a win.”
Richards moved from third on the grid to second on the opening lap and, despite a hair-raising moment entering The Dipper mid-race which saw him nearly hit the concrete wall, he held his position to finish second from Wall, Alex Davison, Ash Walsh, Nick McBride and Garth Walden in seventh, his best race result of the season. Michael Almond placed eighth from Dean Fiore, James Abela, Dylan O’Keeffe and Duvashen Padayachee in 12th.
Tony Bates, who endured a horror opening race where he spun at turn two to ultimately finish sixth in class, charged through the field to eventually sneak by James Bergmuller into the class lead moments before the safety car was called to the circuit, allowing the Challenge class leader to gain maximum race points.
Bates’s title chances were improved as his nearest rival, Shane Smollen, failed to finish after contact with Guest entry Danny Stutterd at Forrest’s Elbow on lap six, ending both their races and causing the late-race safety car period.
“There are racing gods after all. It was a great race; it was pretty spirited over the first few laps so you can tell that we’re approaching the end of the season as everyone is racing pretty hard, which is fantastic,” said Bates, who extends his Challenge points lead to 111.5 following Smollen’s failure to finish and subsequent 60 point penalty after the incident, 30 of which is suspended.
“No one likes to see DNFs and that’s certainly not the way you want weekends to go. I’ve certainly had my fair share of bad luck yesterday and in other rounds so it’s very much survival of the fittest at the moment.”
Bergmuller placed second in class and 13th overall for the race from Scott Taylor and Marc Cini, who finished 16th in his milestone 250th Carrera Cup Australia race having started in the category in its inaugural 2003 season.
“We went around okay today. I got a little hit at the start and bent the steering so, considering that, we were very fortunate to have finish our 250th race,” said Cini.
“I still enjoy racing in Carrera Cup a lot and intend to continue doing it. I’ve seen a lot of people come and go and have made a lot of friends out of it. I’ve seen a lot of young guys go through their careers – the David Reynolds and Fabian Coulthards of this world who are at the top of their game in Supercars. It’s fantastic and I still love it.”
Adrian Mastronardo finished fifth in class and 17th outright from Max Twigg in 18th, who was on the verge of the top 10 before spinning on lap four upon exiting The Chase.
Porsche Carrera Cup Australia presented by Hytera will hold its final race of the Bathrust event at 9:30am on Sunday morning as the curtain racer to the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
Double Duty: Porsche Carrera Cup Australia/Supercars Championship
#7 carsales Racing – Todd Kelly/Matt Campbell
#14 Freightliner Racing – Tim Slade/Ash Walsh
#23 Nissan Motorsport – Michael Caruso/Dean Fiore
#33 Wilson Security Racing GRM – Scott McLaughlin/David Wall
#888 TeamVortex – Craig Lowndes/Steven Richards
Race Schedule
Sunday October 09, 2016
9:30am Race 3 (9 laps)
Broadcast Schedule
Channel: TEN
Race 3 – 9:45am (delayed), Sunday October 09
Channel: Fox Sports 5
Race 3 – 9:30am, Sunday October 09
Results: Race 2
1. #7 Matt Campbell (Outright) Nuveau Constructions/Phase 8, 9 laps, 24:04.1265
2. #12 Steven Richards (Outright) Laser Plumbing and Electrical, 9 laps, 24:04.7551
3. #38 David Wall (Outright) Wilson Security, 9 laps, 24:05.1170
4. #25 Alex Davison (Outright) Wilson Parking, 9 laps, 24:05.8138
5. #777 Ash Walsh (Outright) Bob Jane T-Marts/Infants Friend 9 laps, 24:06.4883
6. #77 Nick McBride (Outright) Bob Jane T-Marts 9 laps, 24:06.8400
7. #21 Garth Walden (Outright) Commerical Interior Projects 9 laps, 24:07.1732
8. #26 Michael Almond (Outright) Copyworld 9 laps, 24:07.5844
9. #8 Dean Fiore (Outright) Saint/Porsche Centre Melbourne 9 laps, 24:07.9290
10. #54 James Abela (Outright) Horsley Park Gun Shop 9 laps, 24:08.1596
11. #88 Dylan O’Keeffe (Outright) All Star Equipment Sales/APB Group – 9 laps, 24:08.5586
12. #45 Duvashen Padayachee (Outright) Darrell Lea STIX 9 laps, 24:08.8907
13. #24 Tony Bates (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Moveitnet / C Tech Laser 9 laps, 24:09.5321
14. #13 James Bergmuller (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) pricepressure.com.au 9 laps, 4:09.8393
15. #222 Scott Taylor (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Scott Taylor Motorsport 9 laps, 24:11.8186
16. #9 Marc Cini (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Hallmarc 9 laps, 24:12.5625
17. #39 Adrian Mastronardo (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Veritas Property Group 9 laps, 24:13.1030
18. #18 Max Twigg (Guest) DNA Racing/Beyond Blue 9 laps, 24:19.1293
DNF #32 Daniel Stutterd (Guest) DJS Racing 5 laps, 11:16.8197
DNF #56 Shane Smollen (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) McGrath Estate Agents 5 laps, 11:17.1702
DNF #4 Stephen Grove (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Grove Hire 2 laps, 4:35.6364