Shane Smollen has taken his first Elite round win in Carrera Cup, with two second place finishes and a fourth giving him enough points to take victory in the third round of the 2012 Season at Barbagallo Raceway in Perth.
Jonny Reid wins at Barbagallo Raceway while Shane Smollen takes his first Elite Class round win
In form Kiwi Jonny Reid has taken his Hunter Sports Group team to its first ever Porsche City Index Carrera Cup Australia race and round victory at Barbagallo Raceway.
After missing the opening round of the all-Porsche championship, Reid secured the backing from the Nathan Tinkler owned Hunter Sports Group to race at Albert Park, where Reid scored three second placed finishes.
Having stepped into the Newcastle branded team full-time, Reid claimed his fourth-straight second placed finish in yesterday???s Race 1 at Barbagallo Raceway.
Reid then broke through for the team???s first ever Carrera Cup victory in today???s Race 2, followed by its second race win later in the day, including the fastest lap in every race at the West Australian circuit.
The results handed Reid the round win and promoted him to third in the 2012 outright standings ??? an incredible feat having missed one of the three rounds this season.
?? want to really say a big thanks to the Hunter Motor Sports team. When we went out on to the track on Friday I wasn???t happy with the car and it didn???t suit my driving style. The boys worked really hard on my car over the weekend to suit my driving style and ??it???s showed in all the races. The first race we were second with the fastest lap, followed by two race wins today with the fastest lap in each. It just shows what we are capable of as a team when everything goes well,??said Reid.
??he team has such a great upbeat bunch of guys with a lot of hunger. In addition to my hunger as a driver, we work really well. I think we showed that this weekend.??/p>
After finishing third in Saturday???s race, Baird completed his Perth round with two second placed finishes in Sunday???s two races, placing the reigning champion second for the round and elevated him to the lead of the championship standings.
Race 1 victor Alex Davison finished third for the round with two third positions in Sunday???s two races. Davison???s deficit to the championship leader Baird was extended to 11 points having received a six point penalty post-round for a Race 1 altercation.
Daniel Gaunt finished fourth for the Barbagallo Raceway round in the outright points, followed by Steven Richards and Team BRM duo Nick Foster and Tom Tweedie.
The Elite Class featured a tight fight at the head of the round standings, with eventual winner Shane Smollen claiming his maiden class round victory.
Smollen finished second in the Elite Class in Saturday???s race and finished fourth and second in class in Sunday???s two races; placing the Sydneysider one point ahead of nearest Elite Class driver James Koundouris at the end of the event.
?? think this weekend showed the importance of finishing races and being consistent throughout the weekend,??said Smollen.
??very corner of every lap can count, and today I fought pretty hard when those opportunities arose. And it counted at the end of the day; we got a one-point win.??/p>
Twigg finished third in the Elite Class points for the round behind Smollen and Koundouris, with Tony Bates in fourth; the top four Elite Class drivers split by a mere six points at the end of the round.
Porsche City Index Index Carrera Cup Australia will next race at the Sucrogen Townsville 400 on July 06-08, 2012.
Via Porsche Cars Australia Motorsport News - Carrera Cup