Sandown Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Round 5

Published on the 20th of September 2023 by McElrea Racing

While many of the Victorian-based teams got the opportunity to test at the very elusive suburban circuit, the MR crew and drivers did not, so we knew we were going to be in for a challenging weekend. Despite that, the plans were the same as usual, which was to have our four Pro drivers in the top-5 and Tim on the podium in Pro-Am.

Bayley Hall

2nd, 3rd, 2nd - Porsche Carrera Cup Australia 'Pro Class'

Ryder Quinn

13th, 12th, 10th - Porsche Carrera Cup Australia 'Pro Class'

Jackson Walls

10th, DNF, 9th - Porsche Carrera Cup Australia 'Pro Class'

Christian Pancione

9th, DNF, DNF - Porsche Carrera Cup Australia 'Pro Class'

Tim Miles

5th, 9th, 4th - Porsche Carrera Cup Australia 'Pro-Am Class'

Summary

As it turned out, Bayley had the breakout weekend we knew had been coming for a while now, so congrats to him and his family for keeping the faith and focus that will see a lot more results like this in the future. He also secured the fastest race lap in race 1.

On the flip side, a tough qualifying session for Jackson cost him and his championship aspirations dearly. He made up three positions in race 1; but had contact and a DNF in race 2, before a strong race 3 comeback, including the fastest race lap.

Likewise, Pancho qualified outside the top-10 but forced his way through to ninth in race 1 before an issue with the electronic throttle system caused a rare mechanical DNF in race 2. He was then a completely innocent victim of lap 1 carnage in race 3.

Ryder had a great weekend, finally having enough luck where he finished all three races, which is hard to believe after such a strong start to the season. Once he gets a handle on the level of aggression required to qualify up front, he will be contending for race wins, no doubt.

Tim had his best weekend in the Pro-Am category since his Darwin podium finish back in June. He wasn't feeling well in race 2, leading to some minor off-road action which cost him his second podium for the 2023 season. Despite that misfortune, he recovered to fourth in race 3.

Our next race is at the legendary Road America circuit in New York on the 28th of July with Carrera Cup North America.