Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Round 3 @Phillip Island

Published on the 10th of June 2019 by McElrea Racing

It had been three weeks since the last round of the GT3 Cup Challenge championship at Sydney Motorsport Park in NSW where Harri and Ryan had taken their first Porsche wins so we were keen to get back into it at the iconic Phillip Island.

The schedule included an 11-lap sprint race, a 26-lap enduro on Saturday and an 11-lap race on Sunday morning.

Harri Jones

Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge 'Pro Class' – 2nd, 2nd, 2nd

Harri qualified 4th. In race 1 he got a good start to take third place and enjoyed a hectic first lap forcing his way past Love into 2nd place.
He sat on the rear of Vidau's car for the whole race and attempted a bold outside pass at turn 4 which almost paid off.

He started race 2 from grid 2 and had a great start, leading 17 of the 26 laps until Love pulled off a great move into turn 2 relegating our man to 2nd. Harri fought hard to retake the lead but had to settle for an annoyed 2nd.

In race 3 Harri got an ordinary start and dropped to 4th on the first lap. This seemed to motivate him to go on a rampage to quickly get back to 3rd then he impressed all with an exceptional pass around the outside of Vidau at turn 1 to retake second, which he held to the end.

Ryan Suhle

Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge 'Pro Class' – 4th, 5th, 4th

Ryan qualified 5th. In race 1 he got quite a bit of wheel spin at the start but did well in the first few corners to hold his 5th place. He kept the pressure on Pancione and with a few laps to go sent it down the inside at the MG hairpin, to take 4th place.

In race 2 he had a shocker of a start but did a good job to hang on to 5th place. Partly due to him competing in an extraordinary 7 sessions (including four F4 races) on Saturday, he did a good job to manage his energy levels to take a solid 5th.

In race 3 Ryan got another average start and dropped to 6th on the first lap. Like Harri, this seemed to motivate him and he was back in 4th a couple of laps later after a few good moves. He almost took 3rd on the final lap after some assertive dicing with Vidau, but had to settle for 4th.

Brett Boulton

Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge 'Pro-Am Class' – DNF, 1st, 1st

Brett did a great job to qualify 2nd in Pro-Am. He got a cracking start and almost passed some Pro cars into turn 1. Unfortunately, he was the victim of a clash with championship leader Shahin which caused a DNF.

It was fair to say that Brett had a point to prove in the 26-lap ‘enduro' illustrated by the fact he made his way past 8 cars on the opening lap! He put in a great drive and got to the front of the Pro-Am field and finished an outstanding 7th outright.

Brett started race 3 from grid 7 and again clashed swords with Shahin, but managed to stay ahead. It was pretty straightforward from there on where he just extended his lead for another dominant victory.

Michael Hovey

Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge 'Pro-Am Class' – 4th, 4th, 2nd

Hoves qualified a frustrated 6th. In race 1 he got a decent start and held position in 6th until Brett & Shahin made contact and he was able to capitalise to take two spots. After getting through some B class traffic, he did his best to catch the car in 3rd but needed another lap.

In race 2 Hoves got away well and had a good race with, and eventually overcoming Woods and Williams, (while letting a recovering Shahin and Brett through) to take another 4th.

Hoves saved his best for last and although he dropped a couple of spots on the first lap he was also on the attack and made his way through the traffic to take a sensational 2nd which also gave him second for the round.

Summary

We were very happy with our results over the weekend, Harri's three 2nds, Brett's two wins, Hoves' 2nd place Pro-Am podium and Ryan's two 4ths. Without Brett's DNF in race 1 we would have had three drivers on the podium which would have been a bit greedy!

We now have an 8-week break until our home race at Queensland Raceway. See you there!