Shannons Ambassador Dale Wood has secured second overall in Round 3 of the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia at Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin, over the weekend.
Wood’s main championship rival, Harri Jones, was all too dominant in his #12 Porsche, taking a clean sweep of the weekend with pole position and three race wins from as many starts.
Wood remained in contention all weekend, managing P3 on Saturday, followed by a pair of second place finishes in each of Sunday’s races, keeping him within striking distance of this year’s championship gong.
Jones led the field from the start, securing pole in qualifying with a time of 1m 06.6s followed closely by Jackson Walls. Wood faced performance issues to line up third, alongside Round 2 winner, David Russell, who entered the weekend second outright in the championship.
Despite being towards the pointy end of the grid, Wood was not 100% comfortable with his car setup heading into the first competitive outing Saturday afternoon.
Jones started Race 1 strong, holding back an aggressive Walls to lead from pole. Wood lost a position to Russell off the line but was ultimately able to use his experience to get back past the quick Queenslander, in typically hot Darwin conditions.
Despite a Safety Car interruption, Jones won from Walls, with Wood coming home third.
Race 2, the nominated Jim Richards Enduro Cup heat for the weekend, saw Jones once again put in a clinical performance to comfortably win by six-seconds over Wood.
Wood had to make the best of his car performance over the 45-minute race distance but persevered to guide his #992 home ahead of Dylan O’Keeffe.
O’Keeffe narrowly edged out Walls for third.
The third and final race saw Jones cap off a dominant weekend, crossing the finish line 2.1s ahead of P2. Wood successfully held off Walls and finished the weekend second, with Walls tying off the podium.
“It was nice to taste champagne again.” Enthused Wood.
“Throughout the weekend we definitely made some changes in the right direction for our car and finally felt I had a car that could have challenged for the lead.
“Due to the heat and high track temperatures in Darwin our cars quickly overheat when following a car in front and this makes it very difficult to pass with engine and tyres exceeding optimal performance temperatures.
“We came home in second place for Races 2 and 3, as well as the round. Earl Bamber Motorsport did a fantastic job of working on our setup and car all weekend and we’re in a strong position in the championship moving forward.”
In the Pro-Am class, Adrian Flack emulated Jones’ performance, sweeping the weekend with pole and three race victories, ahead of Rodney Jane and Matt Slavin.
Round 4 of Porsche Carrera Cup Australia at the Beaurepairs Sydney Supernight is scheduled for 19-21 July. Wood currently sits third in the 2024 standings, 78-points adrift of the leader, Jones, and 18-points away from Walls who sits second.
You can catch all the action from this year’s Carrera Cup Australia Championship live, on demand and in HD via Kayo or Foxtel with an active subscription.
