David Wall remains the driver to beat in Porsche Carrera Cup Australia’s penultimate round at Mount Panorama, while Tim Miles capitalised on opening lap carnage to claim a convincing TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge race win.
After securing the TAG Heuer Pole Position earlier on Friday, the series leader Wall established a strong race one lead, which was short-lived after the safety car was called to the circuit following an accident between Challenge class rivals Stephen Grove and Max Twigg at turn two.
Wall had an impressive restart, continuing at the front of the field until the chequered flag, though a charging Alex Davison and Andre Heimgartner placed pressure on the Sydneysider in the closing laps.
“My car was really good across the top and Alex’s was strong from Forrest’s Elbow to the start-finish line, so I had to maximise my pace across the top and do what I could do across the bottom. We were both pushing really had and I really enjoyed it; to come to Bathurst and have a win and a pole position is amazing,” said Wall.
“We were not happy with our results at Sandown so to come here and claim a pole position and a race win so far at Bathurst has been great.”
Davison secured second and maintained his position at the top of the Endurance Cup standings following his race three win at Sandown last month.
Heimgartner managed to hold off challenges from Jaxon Evans during that majority of the race before pulling away to catch the leading duo by the finish, ultimately finishing third.
Evans placed fourth from Nick McBride, Dylan O’Keeffe, Cam McConville, Michael Almond and Jordan Love in 10th, who dropped down the order after contact with James Abela in the closing laps. Dan Gaunt placed 11th from Abela, who was handed a 15-second penalty for the Love contact.
Miles crossed the chequered flag in 11th outright and was unchallenged in the TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge ranks, finishing nine seconds ahead of Marc Cini, who placed second in class. Simon Ellingham placed 14th outright from Graham Williams in 15th and third in the Challenge class.
“I’m absolutely thrilled with the class win. It was a quiet race for me but the car was brilliant. I had a really good car under me, though it would have been good to have someone to race against,” said Miles.
“Any day that you get to do 15 laps around here is a good day. Those guys who didn’t finish today will have better tyres for tomorrow but I’ll have the start position advantage so hopefully we’ll have a strong battle tomorrow.”
TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge points leader Grove and Twigg failed to finish the race with both cars sustaining substantial damage from the opening lap accident.
The second leg of the Endurance Cup was schedule to run for 16 laps, though the shortened 15 lap race, at 93km, still stands as the longest ever single-driver race in the series’ history.
Porsche Carrera Cup Australia will return on Saturday for the second race of the Mount Panorama round ahead of the final race of the weekend on Sunday, which is the last on-track session ahead of the famous 1000km Supercars Championship endurance race.
Race Schedule
Saturday October 07, 2017
4:30pm Race 2 (9 laps)
Sunday October 08, 2017
9:30am Race 3 (9 laps)
Broadcast Schedule
Channel: TEN
Race 2 – 4:30pm, Saturday October 07
Race 3 – 9:35am, Sunday October 08
Channel: Fox Sports 506
Race 2 – 4:30pm, Saturday October 07
Race 3 – 9:30am, Sunday October 08
Results – Race 1
1. #38 David Wall (Outright) PAYCE/Wilson Security – 15 laps, 40:43.8844s
2. #888 Alex Davison (Outright) President Limo Australia – 15 laps, 40:45.0418s
3. #777 Andre Heimgartner (Outright) Bob Jane T-Marts / Money Now – 15 laps, 40:45.3872s
4. #7 Jaxon Evans (Outright) Hungry Jacks – 15 laps, 40:48.0564s
5. #77 Nick McBride (Outright) Sonic / Bob Jane T-Marts – 15 laps, 40:48.5616s
6. #88 Dylan O’Keeffe (Outright) APB Group/President Limo Australia – 15 laps, 40:53.1459s
7. #5 Cameron McConville (Outright) Repair Management Australia – 15 laps, 40:54.2877s
8. #26 Michael Almond (Outright) Copyworld – 15 laps, 40:54.6169s
9. #79 Jordan Love (Outright) Sonic Motor Racing / Quintis – 15 laps, 41:10.1273s
10. #8 Dan Gaunt (Outright) Porsche Centre Melbourne – 15 laps, 41:10.4057s
11. #136 James Abela (Outright) Horsley Park Gun Shop – 15 laps, 41:18.9184s
12. #70 Tim Miles (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Miles Advisory Partners – 15 laps, 41:48.2635s
13. #9 Marc Cini (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Hallmarc – 15 laps, 41:56.9039s
14. #33 Simon Ellingham (Outright) Peak Marketing – 15 laps, 41:57.2929s
15. #131 Graham Williams (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) WRA – 14 laps, 42:12.1580s
DNF #4 Stephen Grove (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Grove Group
DNF #18 Max Twigg (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge)
