Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Round 2

Hidden Valley Raceway

Published on Friday, 26th of June 2026

After a 15-week break, our Carrera Cup team was itching to go racing again. This time we had one of our Michelin Sprint Challenge Pro’s Daniel Quimby join Harri Jones and Lockie Bloxsom for the weekend. Unfortunately, Brett Boulton couldn’t make it due to business commitments, but we hope he will be back soon.

We have many fond memories from Hidden Valley, like Jaxon Evans' first clean sweep back in 2017 plus many other wins and podiums since. We had also made the big trek up a to Darwin to test back in April, so as usual, we felt well prepared and looking forward to a strong weekend.

The race format was also different with two 45-minute enduro style races rather than 3 sprint races.

McElrea Racing drivers at Hidden Valley Raceway 2026

McElrea Racing crew at Hidden Valley Raceway 2026

Harri Jones #12

Pro

Leigh Geyer

Mikey Connell

2^nd

Harri started race 1 from grid 4 and managed to get by Giltrap on the run to turn 1. Due to the new ABS systems fitted to the Cup cars for 2026, the performance of the top 3 cars was very similar and a clean overtake wasn’t possible, so he managed the frustration like a pro and settled for a big handful of points.

In race 2 he got the start he needed to lead Giltrap, who was later passed by Osborne who followed Harri for the last 40 minutes of the 45-minute race.

Harri Jones #12 racing at Hidden Valley Raceway 2026

Lockie Bloxsom #23

Pro, Michelin Junior

Louis Kapitsas

Dan Ensor

7^th

Lockie started race 1 from grid 5, he had a good start but got run off the road at turn 1 dropping 5 places to 10th before he re-took Russell later in the lap. He did a great job to hunt down and pass O’Keeffe on lap 21 to finish 8th.

Race 2 was a pretty processional affair and after the field settled down, the top 10 were circulating within a few tenths of each other. Lockie’s results don’t look as good on paper as they actually were, including purple sector 1 in race 2 and 7th for the round.

Lockie Bloxsom #23 racing at Hidden Valley Raceway 2026

Daniel Quimby #24

Pro, Michelin Junior

Louis Kapitsas

Stewart Notley-Smith

10^th

In qualifying Daniel did a terrific job to qualify 8th for his first ever Carrera Cup race. In the first race he had an average start and a tough first lap and dropped to 13th. Although he didn’t gain or lose any paces during the race he did a ripper job including a lap time only 4/10ths off the winners fastest lap.

As mentioned, although the mini-enduro race 2 was a pretty processional, Daniel did an amazingly assured job to run in the top 7 on his first ever Carrera Cup weekend and proving to be a real thorn in the (back) side of all the more experienced pros.

Daniel Quimby #24 racing at Hidden Valley Raceway 2026

Team Corner

Summary

While it was bittersweet for Harri to be beaten by MR89 (Clay Osborne) for the Darwin round win, we can take a great deal of satisfaction, having run Clay for the 2023 and 2024 seasons in Sprint Challenge and 2025 in Carrera Cup, so he is certainly a recipient of the MR Driver Development system.

This was the first race for Lockie since returning from his two rounds in Sprint Challenge North America in April, and it sure didn’t do him any harm as this was his most complete round at this level.

As for young Daniel Quimby, he hasn’t had the season so far in Sprint Challenge that any of us were expecting, but this weekend, stepping up to play with the big boys, he acquitted himself brilliantly and proved that when he moves up to Carrera Cup full-time, he will be a force to be reckoned with.

Many thanks to the AMRC (awesome MR crew) our Carrera Cup drivers, their sponsors and families.

See you at Queensland Raceway 22/ 23 August for round 3.

McElrea Racing winning at Hidden Valley Raceway 2026