McConville Claims Maiden Win in Hard-fought Race Three
McConville and Grove take Saturday victories at Albert Park
Cam McConville has added his name to the list of Porsche Carrera Cup Australia race winners following an impressive performance in Saturday’s race three at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, while Stephen Grove continued his TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge winning streak.
Starting third on the grid, McConville moved by Andre Heimgartner to place second by the opening corner before taking the race lead from Nick McBride moments later at turn nine.
From there, McConville built an unassailable lead to claim his first race win in the Porsche championship, moving him to third in the standings.
“I’m absolutely stoked with my first Carrera Cup win, particularly for the Zagame Motorsport team. Putting this team together was relatively last minute; we started back in November so to get a race win in round two is amazing. This championship is all about the first three laps and the car was great so I took advantage while I could,” said McConville.
“I think McBride had a bit of a wobble on the back straight and just dropped two wheels off the track, so I had a run on him. I actually wasn’t going to pass him but he braked quite early into the turn nine right-hander so it was quite an easy pass. Then Alex Davison had some great speed at the end of the race so it will be a very interesting final race tomorrow.”
Alex Davison, who started fourth, made the most of his strong mid-race pace to get by Andre Heimgartner on lap six, then claiming Heimgartner’s teammate, McBride, on the following lap to ultimately take second for the race.
A third place for McBride followed his impressive victories in the opening two Albert Park races and retains the lead in the round standings.
Heimgartner was less fortunate in race three; the series points leader dropped from his starting position of second to fourth by the finish on track, however, a five-second post-race penalty for a jump start dropped the Kiwi down the order to seventh in the final results.
Dylan O’Keeffe, David Wall, and Jaxon Evans were the beneficiaries of Heimgartner’s penalty; the trio moved up the final order to fourth, fifth and sixth place, respectively. Evans’ performance was particularly impressive considering he started from the rear of the field following his failure to start race two.
Michael Almond placed eighth outright from Lars Kern and James Abela in 10th.
Stephen Grove was again the TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge pace-setter. The 2014 class champion retained the lead of the class throughout the 10-lap event to take his sixth straight class win this season.
“The most pleasing thing about that race was tacking onto the back of the professional guys to learn from them. I really learnt a lot that race, chasing them to follow their lines and see what they do. It gives me the confidence to keep pushing and hopefully tag onto the back of them tomorrow. I’ll see how we go,” said Grove.
Marc Cini placed second in class, however,, he was lucky to escape contact from Matt Palmer; the Carrera Cup newcomer slightly tagging Cini’s Porsche when spinning on lap four.
Dean Cook finished 13th outright and third in class from Palmer and Graham Williams.
Simon Ellingham was the only DNF of the race, spinning into the turn one gravel trap on the final lap.
Porsche Carrera Cup Australia will hold its final race of the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix event on Sunday at 1:50 pm.
Race Schedule
Sunday, March 26, 2017
1:50 pm Race 4 (10 laps)
Broadcast Schedule
Channel: Ten
Race 4 – 1:50 pm, Sunday, March 26
Race 3 Results
1. #5 Cameron McConville (Outright) Repair Management Australia – 10 laps, 20:12.2169s
2. #888 Alex Davison (Outright) President Limo Australia – 10 laps, 20:12.9722s
3. #77 Nick McBride (Outright) Sonic / Bob Jane T-Marts – 10 laps, 20:15.6693s
4. #88 Dylan O’Keeffe (Outright) APB Group/President Limo Australia – 10 laps, 20:17.3760s
5. #38 David Wall (Outright) PAYCE/Wilson Security – 10 laps, 20:18.1145s
6. #7 Jaxon Evans (Outright) Hungry Jacks – 10 laps, 20:18.5545s
7. #777 Andre Heimgartner (Outright) Bob Jane T-Marts / Sonic – 10 laps, 20:21.3280s
8. #6 Michael Almond (Outright) Repair Management Australia – 10 laps, 20:21.5020s
9. #8 Lars Kern (Outright) Porsche Centre Melbourne – 10 laps, 20:24.3079s
10. #54 James Abela (Outright) Horsley Park Gun Shop – 10 laps, 20:41.1154s
11. #4 Stephen Grove (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Grove Group – 10 laps, 20:43.8923s
12. #9 Marc Cini (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Hallmarc – 10 laps, 20:48.5801s
13. #22 Dean Cook (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) DNA Racing – 10 laps, 20:56.8337s
14. #48 Matt Palmer (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) STR Truck Bodies – 10 laps, 21:01.2529s
15. #131 Graham Williams (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) DNA Racing – 10 laps, 22:21.2201s
DNF #33 Simon Ellingham (Outright) Peak Marketing – 9 laps, 18:56.0062s
Sources: Daniel Jordan/Porsche Cars Australia PR