Queensland Racers Shine with Adelaide Round Victory
A near-perfect performance by Jaxon Evans at the Adelaide 500 has handed the Michelin Junior victory in the opening round of the 2018 Porsche Wilson Security Carrera Cup Australia season, while a TAG Heuer Pro-Am clean sweep saw Roger Lago visit the top step of the round podium upon his return to the championship.
Evans entered Sunday’s race three with a second and first placing across the opening two races, and a dominant performance in the final race ensured the young Queensland based New Zealander secured both race three victory and the round win.
The race was interrupted early by the safety car, called to the circuit after Leanne Tander hit the turn eight barrier. Evans then remained at the front from the restart to ultimately take a 1.2-second victory from reigning champion David Wall and local driver Michael Almond in third.
Reigning Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Australia champion Jordan Love placed an impressive fourth in race three from Dylan O’Keeffe. Following his two third-place performances in the opening two races, fifth in race three handed O’Keeffe a position on the final step on the Pro podium behind round winner Evans and second-placed Wall.
Race one winner Dale Wood placed sixth, placing the former Supercars driver fourth in the Pro round results, with Nick McBride, Cameron Hill and Adam Garwood completing the top 10 in race three.
Lago placed 11th outright in race three, his first race outside the top 10, claiming the TAG Heuer Pro-Am race three victory from Max Twigg, Adrian Flack and Stephen Grove to give the Queenslander a clean sweep in the Pro-Am class. Joining Lago on the TAG Heuer Pro-Am podium was Twigg in second and Grove in third. Anthony Gilbertson placed fifth in class in race three from Sam Shahin and Tim Miles.
As the series departs Adelaide, Evans holds a 24 point lead in the standings from Wall, with O’Keeffe a further 18 points behind in third.
Meanwhile, Lago will enter round two with a 30 point lead in the TAG Heuer Pro-Am standings over Twigg, with Grove a further 6 points adrift in third.
The Porsche Wilson Security Carrera Cup Australia series now waits only three weeks until its next on-track outing as it lines up at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix for round two on March 21-24.
Quotes
Jaxon Evans
“You certainly can’t ask for more than that for the first round of the year. There’s really strong competition in this year’s championship, which makes it even better to come away with the round win.
“It hasn’t taken too long to adapt to the new car. That’s credit to my engineer and the McElrea Racing boys, they certainly know what they’re doing with a Porsche.
“Having a full field is one thing, but to have the likes of Wall, Dale Wood and James Moffat really lifts the level of competition. It’s not going to be an easy year, but it’s great to get the first round of the year out of the way with a good results. It’s a big confidence booster.”
Roger Lago
“I didn’t expect to come here and be three from three, to be honest. I’m pretty rapt on how the weekend has worked out.
“The new car is great, but it has more front too, so it seems to go wherever I want to point it. All in all it’s a great car and I’m really looking forward to the rest of the year.”
Sources: Daniel Jordan/Porsche Cars Australia PR