CARRERA CUP: CHAMP QUICKEST ON COMEBACK
RETURNING Porsche Carrera Cup Australia champion Nick Foster and teammate Graham Williams have completed a Sonic Motor Racing 1-2-3 sweep in practice at Phillip Island today.
The 2015 champion and his new teammate topped the charts across three 20-minute practice sessions thanks to Foster’s 1m30.3846s lap banked early in the final session.
It marks a strong start for the Victorian outfit that has yet to be beaten to pole position in a Carrera Cup event this year.
The pair will share the WRA / Sonic Porsche that made its Carrera Cup debut at the Australian Grand Prix in March in the hands of newcomer, Graham Williams.
In cool yet sunny conditions, Foster’s time was only 0.3s slower than Matt Campbell’s qualifying lap record at the circuit and comfortably under the race lap record – currently held by Scott McLaughlin.
“It’s great to be back and working with these guys again,” Foster said of reuniting with his championship-winning Sonic team.
“It’s a different experience and feeling because I’m here with no pressure and to help Graham this weekend. We’ve had a long-term plan that we have been working towards to get him into the class and start the learning process and this is all part of it.
“He’s done a great job today and has gone quicker than he ever has around this place.
“It’s been a good day, the car feels good and it’s nice to be back here racing.”
Current championship leader Andre Heimgartner and co-driver Aaron Ireland were second overall, just 0.08s behind Foster’s flyer today.
Ireland, who is contesting just his second ever national-level Porsche event this weekend, was an impressive 10th quickest in the dedicated Am-drivers session held earlier on Friday morning.
Nick McBride and Dylan Thomas set the third quickest overall time today, the No. 77 car banking a best of 1m30.74s in the final session.
Jaxon Evans and Tim Miles were fourth overall in his McElrea Racing No. 7 machine, just 0.1s behind McBride’s best, while the No. 888 President Limo Australia entry of Alex Davison and Geoff emery were fifth fastest on the combined times.
Dylan O’Keefe / Adam Gowans (6th), Cameron McConville / Tony Bates (7th), Stephen Grove / Tim Slade (8th), Dean Grant / Lee Holdsworth (9th) and Marc Cini / Dean Fiore completed the top-10 runners on combined practice times.
Just 1.4 seconds covered the top-10 runners today ahead of this weekend’s highly anticipated ProAm event.
The depth of the field was indicated in the stand-alone ‘Am’ drivers session held on Friday morning, just one second covering the seven fastest drivers in a session topped by Sam Shahin – on his Carrera Cup debut.
Geoff Emery (President Limo Australia) was second and Dylan Thomas (Bob Jane T-Marts Sonic Motor Racing) was third.
The high-speed Phillip Island circuit struck early in the session when Anthony Gilbertson unfortunately crashed the Horsley Park Gun Shop car he will share with James Abela at the hayshed.
Despite a high-speed impact, the McElrea Racing team will have the car repaired and back on track in time for qualifying on Saturday morning.
The Porsche Carrera Cup Australia ProAm continues on Saturday with a pair of 15-minute qualifying sessions, one each for the Pro and Am drivers contesting the event.
The combined times will then set the grid for the first one-hour race to commence at 3:00pm local time.
TOP 10 COMBINED TIMES – PORSCHE CARRERA CUP AUSTRALIA PRO-AM
- Williams / Foster (Sonic / WRA) 1m30.38
- Heimgartner / Ireland (Sonic / Bob Jane T Marts) 1m30.46
- McBride / Thomas (Sonic / Bob Jane T Marts) 1m30.74
- Evans / Miles (McElrea / Hungry Jacks) 1m30.88
- Davison / Emery (ASM / President Limo) 1m31.10
- O’Keefe / Gowans (ASM / APG Group) 1m31.12
- McConville / Bates (Zagame Autosport) 1m31.21
- Grove / Slade (Grove Racing) 1m31.27
- Grant / Holdsworth (Hallmarc Property Group) 1m31.48
- Cini / Fiore (Porsche Centre Melbourne) 1m31.62
Richard Craill (administrator)
Working full time in the motorsport industry since 2004, Richard has established himself within the group of Australia’s core motorsport broadcasters, covering the support card at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix for Channel 10, the Bathurst 12 Hour for Channel 7 and Porsche Carrera Cup & Touring Car Masters for FOX Sports’ Supercars coverage. Pretends to be a PR guy / Journalist and sometimes photographer to make ends meet when not yelling at a television in a padded room.
