Davison Wins, McConville and Grove Claim Albert Park Honours
McConville, Grove win round two at Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix
Alex Davison has overcome a slow start to his Albert Park campaign to claim his first win of the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia season in Sunday’s race four, while Cam McConville and Stephen Grove were the ultimate round winners at the popular Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix event.
Starting on pole position, McConville took the early race lead however Davison gained the upper hand on lap four, moving through to the lead of the race and ultimately claimed the race win – his 45th Carrera Cup victory and 12th at the Albert Park circuit.
Davison struggled earlier in the weekend after a poor qualifying performance, however he was happy to show his true pace and eventually finish on the round podium.
“Obviously we had some work to do after a poor qualifying, which was disappointing because I knew eighth place didn’t reflect our true pace. I tried to battle through the first two races without taking too many risks and luckily got myself onto the front row for the last race. The car was pretty quick in the opening two races however, for the last two races, the car was the best 991 GT3 Cup car I’ve ever driven,” said Davison.
“Hopefully we’ve now found that mojo with the set-up that we can keep charging forward as we have some catching up to do.”
McConville finished second for the race from Andre Heimgartner and Nick McBride in fourth, holding David Wall and Jaxon Evans at bay to the chequered flag.
The race four results placed both McConville and McBride equal on points, however McConville’s higher position in the final race handed him the outright round victory.
“I’m absolutely stoked. I thought Nick had won the round, but because I was ahead in the last race I came away with the round win,” said McConville.
“I’m a realist and I know this season will get harder with every round. We’ll now try to do a test day with our co-drivers for Phillip Island and hope to be just as competitive for the Pro-Am.”
Wall and Evans finished race four in fifth and sixth, respectively, from Dylan O’Keeffe, Michael Almond, Lars Kern and James Abela in 10th.
Grove continued his TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge dominance with 10th outright and another class win – his seventh straight this season – from Simon Ellingham, Marc Cini, Matt Palmer, Dean Cook and Graham Williams in 16th.
Joining Grove on the TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge podium was debutant Palmer in second and returning racer Cook in third.
“It’s great to get the class win here at Albert Park. I had the consistency I was looking for and the class win is a bonus. The only thing with racing at Albert Park is the added pressure being my home event, but I love the free-flowing track and love the atmosphere,” said Grove.
Following his impressive season opener in Adelaide, Heimgartner retains the series lead by 34 points from Wall, followed by McConville, McBride, O’Keeffe and Davison after two of eight rounds.
Grove meanwhile holds a commanding 76.5 point lead in the TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge standings from Cini and Palmer in third.
The next round of Porsche Carrera Cup Australia will be held at Phillip Island on May 26-28 for the championship’s annual Pro-Am event.
Sources: Daniel Jordan/Porsche Cars Australia