The Elite Class pairing of Max Twigg and Luke Youlden have claimed outright victory in the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia championship’s first ever co-driver round when headlining the Porsche Rennsport Australia Motor Racing Festival.
Perfect weather graced the final day of the Porsche-themed festival at Sydney Motorsport Park as the two one-hour Carrera Cup co-driver races played out in thrilling fashion.
Nick Percat and Rodney Jane claimed the opening race win in the first ever co-driver race in Carrera Cup Australia’s history, taking the lead in the closing stages of the 60-minute race.
Jane, in his 150th race in the championship, made a promising start from 10th on the grid, eventually handing over to Percat. The South Australian then charged through the field to eventually pass Adam Gowans, who took the reins from Shae Davies mid-race, in the final moments to claim victory from Gowans and Youlden.
Warren Luff and Geoff Emery finished fourth ahead of the pairings of Michael Patrizi/Troy Bayliss, Steven Richards/Theo Koundouris, Craig Baird/John Penny, Damien Flack/David Wall, pole-sitters James Koundouris/Steve Owen and Stephen Grove/Earl Bamber in 10th.
In Race 2, Youlden’s early pace and Twigg’s strong finishing stint handed the duo the race win along with outright round victory and Elite Class honours in the landmark Carrera Cup event, with Twigg becoming the first ever Elite Class driver to take overall round victory.
Davies and Gowans again finished second in Race 2 from Luff/Emery, Grove/Bamber and Patrizi/Bayliss in fifth, who looked set for victory after Patrizi took the race lead from Twigg in the closing laps, however he lost the lead after a late-race gearbox issue slowed the pairing, dropping them to fifth by the chequered flag.
Baird and Penny finished sixth from Flack/Wall, Race 1 winners Percat/Jane, Bates/Davison, who failed to finish the opening race after drivetrain issues, and James Koundouris/Owen in 10th.
Placing third and first in the two Rennsport races, Twigg and Youlden finished the round on equal points with Davies and Gowans, however the former pairing’s Race 2 victory handed them the outright round win.
Twigg was thrilled with the result, especially with the success of the Twigg Motorsport-prepared cars, which includes Twigg’s, Davies’ and Grove’s Porsches.
“We’ve got our little workshop out in Harkaway and for this weekend we achieved first outright, first in the Professional Class, first in the Elite Class and third in the Elite Class. From that point of view our team is doing a great job,” said Twigg.
“This co-driver race format works for everyone. Everyone has had a ball this weekend, it has made for great racing and it gives guys like me the chance for an overall win. I really wanted to win here so we’re absolutely thrilled with the result.”
Finishing eighth and seventh outright in the weekend’s two race was enough to secure Flack and Wall second for the Elite Class, with Grove and Bamber taking the final place on the Elite Class podium.
Davies was equally pleased with his maiden Professional Class victory.
“I’m absolutely over the moon with the result. We surprised even ourselves this weekend so it’s a real credit to the team,” said Davies, who was quick to commend the performance of his co-driver, Gowans.
“Adam did an exceptional job this weekend and even made me watch my back on occasions. We thought this weekend might be our bogie event as there were so many great Professional Class drivers in the field. However it played in our favour and we’re ecstatic with the result.”
Luff and debutant Emery were second for the round in the Professional Class after finishing fourth and third in Race 1 and Race 2, respectively, with opening race winners Percat and Jane finishing third in the points.
Baird remains in the lead of the championship after the Sydney round, holding a 44.5-point lead over Luff, with Percat and Richards third and fourth in the standings with four rounds remaining.
Twigg’s dominant performance at Sydney Motorsport Park has given him a 78-point lead in the Elite Class standings from Koundouris and Flack.
The Porsche Rennsport Australia Motor Racing Festival round of the Porsche championship will be televised on SBS on Sunday June 09, 2013.
The next round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia championship will be held at the Sucrogen Townsville 400 on July 05-07, 2013.
Results – Race 1
Position Car # Driver/Co-Driver Laps Race time
1 222 N.Percat/R.Jane 35 1:00:52.7371s
2 21 S.Davies/A.Gowans 35 1:00:54.5667s
3 8 M.Twigg/L.Youlden 35 1:00:56.2867s
4 7 W.Luff/G.Emery 35 1:01:00.2507s
5 29 M.Patrizi/T.Bayliss 35 1:01:02.1750s
6 12 S.Richards/T.Koundouris 35 1:01:05.8371s
7 1 C.Baird/J.Penny 35 1:01:15.7015s
8 19 D.Flack/D.Wall 35 1:01:24.4197s
9 47 J.Koundouris/S.Owen 35 1:01:24.6827s
10 4 S.Grove/E.Bamber 35 1:01:46.8601s
11 9 M.Cini/T.Slade 35 1:01:48.2629s
12 20 D.Padayachee/J.Bobik 35 1:01:50.6317s
13 50 M.Kingsley/J.Goodacre 35 1:01:55.5478s
14 56 S.Smollen/D.Russell 35 1:01:57.7842s
15 13 J.Bergmuller/D.Wood 35 1:02:00.7485s
16 10 M.Loccisano/J.Reid 35 1:02:02.8636s
17 6 T.Walls/J.Davison 35 1:02:03.0983s
18 34 R.Muscat/S.Middleton 35 1:02:20.2752s
19 88 A.Jones/X.West 34 1:01:03.1760s
20 55 R.Gracie/P.Hill 34 1:01:33.1508s
DNF 24 T.Bates/A.Davison 29 51:43.2123s
Results – Race 2
Position Car # Driver/Co-Driver Laps Race time
1 8 M.Twigg/L.Youlden 35 1:01:14.9499s
2 21 S.Davies/A.Gowans 35 1:01:15.5267s
3 7 W.Luff/G.Emery 35 1:01:16.1802s
4 4 S.Grove/E.Bamber 35 1:01:16.7753s
5 29 M.Patrizi/T.Bayliss 35 1:01:18.4487s
6 1 C.Baird/J.Penny 35 1:01:30.8794s
7 19 D.Flack/D.Wall 35 1:01:37.7497s
8 222 N.Percat/R.Jane 35 1:01:40.0852s
9 24 T.Bates/A.Davison 35 1:01:40.4543s
10 47 J.Koundouris/S.Owen 35 1:01:49.7481s
11 56 S.Smollen/D.Russell 35 1:01:51.0023s
12 88 A.Jones/X.West 35 1:02:09.2897s
13 12 S.Richards/T.Koundouris 35 1:02:14.0805s
14 34 R.Muscat/S.Middleton 35 1:02:24.5232s
15 20 D.Padayachee/J.Bobik 35 1:02:35.8540s
16 9 M.Cini/T.Slade 35 1:02:37.8153s
17 55 R.Gracie/P.Hill 35 1:02:46.3092s
18 6 T.Walls/J.Davison 34 1:01:49.8184s
DNF 50 M.Kingsley/J.Goodacre 29 52:36.6600s
DNF 13 James Bergmuller (VIC) 3 9:52.4262s
DNF 10 Michael Loccisano (VIC) 2 7:52.5557s