Photos: Daniel Kalisz Photography and Insyde Media
Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup
The Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup held its fourth round of the season on the weekend and it was New Zealander Callum Hedge who charged his way to a clean sweep of wins, and the outright title lead.
Hedge needed a big round to prove his title credentials, and the young Kiwi delivered, securing pole position in qualifying and leading every single lap across the event to come away with three wins from three races.
Ending the weekend in second and third respectively for the round were Simon Fallon and Christian Pancione, both of whom produced their best results for the year – Fallon picking up two podiums, while Pancione scored his first podium for the season in the final race.
Finishing the event in fourth place was Jackson Walls, who lost his lead on the standings to Hedge after a challenging end to the weekend – his two runner-up finishes in race one and two overshadowed by a P11 in the final race.
Walls was consistently piling the pressure on his title rival, as the battle went right down to the final lap of the final race, where an unsuccessful move from Walls on Hedge ended up with him seemingly clipping the inside kerb and spinning as a result
In the Pro-Am Class, there was just as much unpredictability, however hometown hero Sam Shahin took out the wins with two race victories, while Dean Cook and Adrian Flack rounded out the overall podium.
The Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup returns next month at the iconic Sandown Motor Raceway on 15-17 September.
Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia 86 Series
Cody Burcher has come away from Shell V Power Motorsport Park as the latest round winner in the TGRA 86 Series in what was a highly entertaining round.
With three races part of the itinerary, there were three different winners with Burcher’s outright victory a reward for being the only driver to finish in the top three in every one of the one-make series’ outings.
Boasting the largest field across the weekend, it was Ryan Tomsett who claimed pole position in a busy qualifying, converting that pole to a one second race win over Jayden Wanzek and Burcher.
Unfortunately for Tomsett, a slow start off the line saw him lose his lead on the opening lap of race two as Wanzek charged to the front, however an incident on the third lap saw him tumble down the order to sixth before dropping even further to ninth.
Wanzek’s misfortunes played into Burcher’s hands, who went on to win the second race over Ryan Casha and Fabian Coulthard, while Tomsett finished fourth.
The third and final race of the weekend started in similar fashion to the second, with the second placed driver moving to first on the opening lap – Casha eventually holding on for the victory over Burcher and Coulthard.
The TGRA 86 Series’ next round will be the Penrite Oil Sandown SuperSprint on 15-17 September.
Gulf Western Oils Touring Cars Masters
In what proved an epic battle for top honours, Ryan Hansford ended up taking out the victory over Gulf Western Oils Touring Cars Masters debutant Joel Heinrich, despite the latter winning two of the three official races.
Heinrich had the better start of the two, qualifying on pole position and then taking out the Trophy Race victory over Hansford on Friday afternoon, with the South Australian qualifying in third place.
However, when it came to race one on Saturday afternoon, Hansford showcased his experience in the category as he charged to the lead on the opening lap, before breaking away to a two and a half second win.
Unfortunately, it was a result that would prove the difference for round’s pointscore as Heinrich went on to win the remaining two races over Hansford, who finished second in each.
Although he didn’t win the round, Heinrich certainly showcased what we was made of as he guided his Chevrolet Camaro RS to an eight second win in race two and a seven second win in race three.
In the end, Heinrich fell just four points short of Hansford, while Johnson edged out Fisher for fourth place after finishing third in the final race to Fisher’s sixth place.
The Gulf Western Oils Touring Cars Masters’ next round will be the Supercheap Auto Bathurst International on 10-12 November.
S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship
Aaron Cameron has won his first S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship round for the season after beating Cooper Webster in a memorable duel between the two stars.
Cameron only needed to win one race on his way to victory as he overcame Webster’s two wins and take out round honours by just nine points in total.
Right from the get-go, Cameron was on a mission as a he secured pole position over Webster by one and a half tenths with Jordan Boys in third place a further two tenths off.
While Cameron got pole position, Webster proved too good in the first race though, passing Cameron on the opening lap he leading the way to the chequered flag, eventually crossing the finish line more than five and a half seconds ahead of Cameron.
Starting race two from pole position, Webster made no mistake again as he crossed the line with an even bigger gap over Cameron and Boys.
However, when it came to the weekend’s most important race, the feature race, the roles were reversed as Cameron produced a successful dive on the opening corner, passing Webster and the fast-starting Aaron Love in the process.
From the point, Cameron and Webster broke away from the chasing pack but the latter couldn’t regain the lead, instead settling for second place in the race and for the round.
Love’s third place in the feature race was also enough for him to leapfrog Boys for third overall as just one point separating them at the end of the meeting.
The S5000 Australian Drivers Championship’s next round will be the VAILO Adelaide 500 on 23-26 November.
V8 SuperUte Series
David Sieders won the V8 SuperUte Series in thrilling fashion, edging out Cameron Crick by one single point after the category’s three completed races.
Starting out with what was quite possibly the most decisive moment in the entertaining battle, Sieders secured pole position with a commanding lap almost one second faster than Crick, to secure five bonus points.
The Mazda BT-50 driver then led from lights to chequered flag in race one, crossing the finish line just half a second ahead of Crick, while Queenslander Ryal Harris rounded out the podium.
In the second race, Crick got the jump on Sieders and went on to win both the second and third race ahead of him, however with the first race worth double points, Crick ended up just missing out the
The final race of the weekend was red flagged after a scary start line crash, with no points awarded.
The V8 SuperUte Series joins the Carrera Cup and 86 Series as support categories for Supercars at the Penrite Oil Sandown SuperSprint on 15-17 September.
Keyword: National categories show super support for Supercars