Matt Campbell and Tony Bates have extended their respective championship leads after dominant Saturday performances at Sandown Raceway.
After snaring his fifth straight TAG Heuer Pole Position on Friday, Campbell started race one on the back foot, losing the battle to the first corner to Nick McBride. It took until the closing laps for the 21-year-old to take the lead and claim his fourth consecutive Carrera Cup victory from McBride, David Wall, Alex Davison and Steven Richards.
Campbell then went on to take his fifth straight race win in race two, taking the lead from the start. The race was interrupted by the safety car after Stephen Grove and Ash Walsh made contact on the opening corner. Campbell was unstoppable from the restart with an unchallenged run to the chequered flag, finishing ahead of Davison, McBride, Richards and fifth placed Wall.
“It’s great to get two more race wins for the season today. I certainly got a better start in the second race and a good restart after the safety car period, pulling away for the win,” said Campbell who, between Saturday’s two Porsche races, made his Supercars race debut in the co-driver qualifying race.
“In race two I jumped straight from the Supercar into the Carrera Cup car and I felt comfortable straight away. I feel pretty good jumping between the two, that’s for sure. Today was fantastic but we don’t know what the weather is going to do tomorrow so we’ll have to wait and see. We’ve had some great pace so hopefully I can continue that going into tomorrow.”
Bates claimed similar success in the TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge, taking two class wins on Saturday and extending his class points lead on a horror day for his division rivals.
“I won all three Sandown races last year and two more today; if we could just have a season of Clipsal 500, Sandown, Bathurst and Gold Coast I’d be happy! I’ve had pace in the middle part of the year, but just no luck. To be in the championship race you’ve got to keep it clean and today we’ve done that. I had a stroke of luck in race one where I narrowly missed Shane Smollen and Dylan O’Keeffe and also in race two when I was almost turned around at turn one. You need those ounces of luck that I haven’t had over the past two years to win the championship so hopefully, touch wood, we’re on song,” said Bates.
Bates won the opening Sandown race from 2014 class champion Grove and Marc Cini while, Smollen, who is second in the Challenge standings, failed to finish. Bates dominated the second race, finishing ahead of Cini in an impressive second and James Bergmuller in third.
The final race of the weekend will be held at 12:05pm on Sunday, which can be viewed live on Fox Sports 5.
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 September 18, 2016
12:05pm Race 3 (21 laps)
Broadcast Schedule
Fox Sports 5
Race 3 – 12:05pm, Sunday September 18
Results: Race 1
1. #7 Matt Campbell (Outright) Nuveau Constructions/Phase 8 – 16 laps, 19:08.8125s
2. #77 Nick McBride (Outright) Bob Jane T-Marts – 16 laps, 19:09.8015s
3. #38 David Wall (Outright) Wilson Security – 16 laps, 19:10.3905s
4. #25 Alex Davison (Outright) Wilson Parking – 16 laps, 19:11.0914s
5. #12 Steven Richards (Outright) Laser Plumbing and Electrical – 16 laps, 19:11.3958s
6. #8 Dean Fiore (Outright) Saint/Porsche Centre Melbourne – 16 laps, 19:13.4758s
7. #26 Michael Almond (Outright) Copyworld – 16 laps, 19:18.5178s
8. #54 James Abela (Outright) Horsley Park Gun Shop – 16 laps, 19:22.5764s
9. #45 Duvashen Padayachee (Outright) Darrell Lea STIX – 16 laps, 19:32.0318s
10. #24 Tony Bates (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Moveitnet/AFS – 16 laps, 19:42.8355s
11. #21 Garth Walden (Outright) Commercial Interior Projects – 16 laps, 19:44.5621s
12. #4 Stephen Grove (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Grove Hire – 16 laps, 19:46.0714s
13. #9 Marc Cini (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Hallmarc – 16 laps, 19:47.7382s
14. #39 Adrian Mastronardo (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Veritas Property Group – 16 laps, 19:48.9336s
15. #13 James Bergmuller (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) pricepressure.com.au – 16 laps, 19:48.9867s
16. #777 Ash Walsh (Outright) Bob Jane T-Marts/Infants Friend – 16 laps, 19:53.4091s
DNF #56 Shane Smollen (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) McGrath Estate Agents – 9 laps, 11:09.7027s
DNF #88 Dylan O’Keeffe (Outright) All Star Equipment Sales/APB Group – 8 laps, 9:47.2012s
Results: Race 2
1. #7 Matt Campbell (Outright) Nuveau Constructions/Phase 8 – 13 laps, 18:11.1943s
2. #25 Alex Davison (Outright) Wilson Parking – 13 laps, 18:13.7624s
3. #77 Nick McBride (Outright) Bob Jane T-Marts – 13 laps, 18:14.7717s
4. #12 Steven Richards (Outright) Laser Plumbing and Electrical – 13 laps, 18:15.1810s
5. #38 David Wall (Outright) Wilson Security – 13 laps, 18:15.9981s
6. #8 Dean Fiore (Outright) Saint/Porsche Centre Melbourne – 13 laps, 18:16.5780s
7. #45 Duvashen Padayachee (Outright) Darrell Lea STIX – 13 laps, 18:24.9057s
8. #88 Dylan O’Keeffe (Outright) All Star Equipment Sales/APB Group – 13 laps, 18:28.7284s
9. #54 James Abela (Outright) Horsley Park Gun Shop – 13 laps, 18:32.0922s
10. #24 Tony Bates (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Moveitnet/AFS – 13 laps, 18:34.4149s
11. #21 Garth Walden (Outright) Commercial Interior Projects – 13 laps, 18:36.4496s
12. #9 Marc Cini (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Hallmarc – 13 laps, 18:40.5384s
13. #13 James Bergmuller (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) pricepressure.com.au – 13 laps, 18:41.6325s
14. #4 Stephen Grove (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Grove Hire – 13 laps, 18:46.7727s
15. #56 Shane Smollen (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) McGrath Estate Agents – 13 laps, 18:58.4372s
16. #39 Adrian Mastronardo (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Veritas Property Group – 13 laps, 19:09.3804s
DNF #777 Ash Walsh (Outright) Bob Jane T-Marts/Infants Friend – 9 laps, 19:10.1013s
DNF #26 Michael Almond (Outright) Copyworld