Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Round 4

Townsville Street Circuit

Published on Wednesday, 15th of July 2026

The awesome MR crew always looks forward to heading to northern Queensland for the Townsville race weekend.

Despite 4 of our cars being involved in a huge accident at the start of race 2 last year, our objectives were clear from the outset, both the Pros were after nothing less than victory, while Gilbo was planning on a conservative approach at the notoriously tricky street circuit. On the other hand, Tim who has been second in race 1 at the last three race weekends, before running into trouble in race 2, had his eyes firmly on his first Sprint Challenge podium, while Kent was keen to continue his impressive development and snag his second Sprint Challenge podium.

McElrea Racing crew at Townsville Street Circuit 2026

McElrea Racing drivers at Townsville Street Circuit 2026

Kamal Mrad #7

Pro, Michelin Junior

Louis Kapitsas

Lewis Dickerson

6^th

Kamal didn’t get a great launch in race 1 and dropped a place, but as he normally does, he put his head down and raced his way forward to 5th.

Ater the big crash and race 2 restarted, Kamal was in the middle of an intense battle pack ending up getting a bump and run which cost him two places and a disappointing result.

In race 3 he started 8th and was again in the thick of it in the leading group making one position for a 7th place finish and 6th for the weekend.

Kamal Mrad #7 racing at Townsville Street Circuit 2026

Daniel Quimby #24

Pro, Michelin Junior

Louis Kapitsas

Marc Jones

P10

8^th

Daniel had brake locking issues in qualifying which cost us time and distraction from our focus on car speed.

He got a good start I race 1 and progressed up to 7th before the braking issue reared it’s head again and cost him 3 positions.

In race 2 he had a decent restart to pass Haikel in lap 6 then Kamal on lap 9.

In race 3 he started 7th and was happy with the changes to his car making three very bold passes to take a far more indicative result of 4th.

Daniel Quimby #24 racing at Townsville Street Circuit 2026

Anthony Gilbertson #19

Pro-Am

Leigh Geyer

Stewart Notley-Smith

1^st

Gilbo started the weekend by topping both practise sessions, before qualifying on pole.

In race 1 he got a good start and raced with some Pro drivers before finishing with an 8 seconds winning margin.

In race 2 Gilbo got a good restart and pulled a gap on the first lap which he maintained for the remaining 12 laps.

In race 3 he was keen to get another good start and keep his rapidly improving teammate behind, which he achieved for his 11th win for the season.

Anthony Gilbertson #19 racing at Townsville Street Circuit 2026

Tim Farrell #51

Pro-Am

Andy McElrea

Jeremy Mattea

2^nd

Tim had a great first race, making his way to 3rd in Pro-Am, before a bold pass on Moylan which gave him his third second place finish of the season.

In race 2 Tim also had a good restart and had plenty of fun chasing Gilbo and finishing only 2 seconds off with the fastest Pro-Am lap time.

With Tim’s first Sprint Challenge podium in sight he was focused on a good start and a clean run, which he accomplished to take his third 2nd for the weekend.

Tim Farrell #51 racing at Townsville Street Circuit 2026

Kent Leicester #14

Pro-Am

Andy McElrea

Zac Schwalm

DNF

6^th

Kent had a pretty average start in race 1 dropping him to 8th, before taking two scalps and a well-earned 6th.

Kent got some minor damage avoiding the big shunt at the beginning of race 2 which the MR crew repaired while the safety car was out before the temporary red flag.

He finished 4th which was promoted to 3rd after penalties. Kent started race 3 well and was sitting in a comfortable 3rd behind his teammates when his gearbox failed, causing a DNF.

Kent Leicester #14 racing at Townsville Street Circuit 2026

Team Corner

Summary

Another great weekend in the books. The highlights were Gilbo’s 4th round win, but equally, Tim’s first podium with 2nd in all three races, which was outstanding for a guy who only started circuit racing at round 3 of last years' championship.

While 1st and 2nd in Pro-Am was a great result, we were robbed when Kent was sitting in 3rd in race 3, 3rd in points for the weekend with a 5 second gap behind, when his gearbox failed, costing him his second podium of the season and MR’s first ever Pro-Am podium lockout. Dang it!!

Daniel & Kamal both proved again that they are capable of winning races, when the luck swings their way. Daniel was distracted during qualifying and race 1 analysing the braking issue he was suffering from, while Kamal learned a lot about some of the 1 percenters which can have a significant impact on the weekend’s end result. This just underlines why Michelin Sprint Challenge is such a great, and highly competitive development category.

Next round is at SMP in mid-September, but we’ve got a couple of Carrera Cup rounds at QR and The Bend to dominate first!

McElrea Racing drivers and crew at Townsville Street Circuit 2026