Dale Wood is unstoppable in Melbourne this weekend, taking his third victory of the 2018 Porsche Wilson Security Carrera Cup Australia.
The race was forced to start behind the safety car after the start lights failed, the Melbourne-native led the field along the start straight as the safety car peeled off in to the pitlane and as per the other two races this weekend, Wood held the lead in to the first corner.
It was the usual suspects who gave chase, with Jaxon Evans challenging for the lead at times, despite this pressure, the former Supercars driver managed to keep the upper hand, recording his third victory in a row, and his fourth win of his Carrera Cup Australia career.
The target now is for Wood to complete the clean sweep tomorrow, emulating the Alex Davidson, Jim Richards and Craig Baird.
“That was a hard race. I could not shake Jaxon and even the tiniest mistake means he’s all over you. It was a tough race, but a good one. It’s a confidence booster but we can’t get complacent. I’m absolutely loving it,” said Wood.
Evans would hold on for second position while Alex Davidson took third place as he continued his fight back up the grid after a post-race penalty from race one. Davidson crossed the chequered flag leading home a four car pack battling Michael Almond, Jordan Love and Nick McBride for the final podium spot.
Dylan O’Keeffe took second place ahead of James Moffat, who probably wasn’t the most popular driver in his team after nudging teammate and defending champion David Wall in to a synchronised spin on the final corner. While Moffat manage to make it back up in to eighth, Wall could only manage fourteenth.
First win this season for Grove in Tag Heuer Pro-Am
Credit: Porsche
Stephen Grove claimed his first win of the 2018 season, made even more impressive as he recorded a DNF in the first race of the weekend before fighting back in the second race.
The surge forward would continue for this race as he headed up the Pro-Am field at the chequered flag, marking his first win since the opening race of the 2017 finale at Gold Coast.
“With the calibre of drivers that we have in Pro-Am now, a win is something special.” said Grove. “The wins don’t just come, you have to work really hard.
“In that race I pushed from fifth and I worked hard and passed everyone cleanly; everyone gave racing room and that’s a real credit to all the boys I was racing with.
“To win in this category now is hard and to get the win is great. It will build momentum from here.”
Race two Pro-Am winner Tim Miles managed to hold on for second place ahead of Dean Cook, Greg Taylor and Max Twigg.
Sam Shahin managed to record sixth place ahead of the race one and two winner Roger Lago.
Porsche Wilson Security Carrera Cup Australia – Melbourne – Race 3 results
1. #100 Dale Wood (Pro) 10 laps, 21:40.1651
2. #7 Jaxon Evans (Pro) 10 laps, 21:41.4446
3. #888 Alex Davison (Pro) 10 laps, 21:46.0128
4. #77 Michael Almond (Pro) 10 laps, 21:46.0280
5. #777 Jordan Love (Pro) 10 laps, 21:46.5241
6. #8 Nick McBride (Pro) 10 laps, 21:47.1380
7. #88 Dylan O’Keeffe (Pro) 10 laps, 21:47.2747
8. #18 James Moffat (Pro) 10 laps, 22:02.6732
9. #15 Josh Hunt (Pro) 10 laps, 22:04.6951
10. #12 Adam Garwood (Pro) 10 laps, 22:07.1319
11. #14 Peter Major (Pro) 10 laps, 22:07.8418
12. #4 Stephen Grove (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) 10 laps, 22:10.6368
13. #6 Tim Miles (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) 10 laps, 22:11.8649
14. #1 David Wall (Pro) 10 laps, 22:15.9960
15. #22 Dean Cook (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) 10 laps, 22:16.5119
16. #5 Greg Taylor (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) 10 laps, 22:19.0439
17. #80 Max Twigg (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) 10 laps, 22:28.3776
18. #13 Sam Shahin (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) 10 laps, 22:30.1417
19. #23 Roger Lago (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) 10 laps, 22:40.7615
20. #9 Marc Cini (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) 10 laps, 22:45.9512
21. #35 Indiran Padayachee (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) 10 laps, 22:46.4089
22. #131 Graham Williams (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) 10 laps, 23:22.1608
DNF #19 Anthony Gilbertson (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) 3 laps, 8:28.0144
DNF #20 Adrian Flack (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) 2 laps, 5:48.8643
