DAVID RUSSELL has returned to the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia winners list, leading lights to flag to claim a rain-sodden New Zealand opener in Taupo.

In just his fourth ever race for TekworkX, Russell led home Angelo Mouzouris – in his best race yet – and Harri Jones to take the sixth win of his Carrera Cup career and the Equity One Professional class honours.

Adrian Flack survived an early scrape to claim the win in SP Tools Pro-Am with Rick Armstrong in second and Sam Fillmore in third.

The race started behind the Safety Car as solid rain fell over the circuit for much of the morning.

Racing at speed commenced after four laps under yellow, Russell pulling away from the pack while a charging Mouzouris pounced on Harri Jones to steal second from the former champion.

The Sonic racer pulled away from Jones and followed Russell closely for the remainder of the race, the pair finishing line astern just one second apart.

The result was Russell’s first win since Winton in 2022 and Mouzouris’ best ever in Carrera Cup competition.

“I tell you, that’s some of the toughest conditions I’ve driven in,” Russell said post-race.

“It’s just so wet and there’s a lot of standing pockets of water with all the changing track surfaces.

“The biggest thing was managing the braking inputs and keeping an eye on the gap because one wrong step and you’d be off.

“We didn’t go well at the Grand Prix but it’s how you bounce back. It’s a great team, great squad and I’m happy for the team and our group of sponsors too.”

Jones drifted from the leaders early in the race before coming on strong late, setting the quickest lap as he closed on Mouzouris late – ultimately setting the quickest lap of the race.

Behind the leaders, Nash Morris passed Dylan O’Keeffe to secure fourth position in his best ever Carrera Cup race.

Ryder Quinn finished sixth ensuing six different teams finished in the top six in the opening Taupo encounter.

A furious battle for the back half of the top-10 unfolded for much of the race as Dale Wood spent the early running fending off Fabian Coulthard’s Porsche Centre Melbourne entry.

It was a Coulthard – Wood sandwich for a while; Dale’s brother Glenn attacking from behind.

Both Wood brothers struck issues and speared off the circuit, allowing Coulthard to remain clear in seventh position. Glen ended 11th and Dale 14th after a challenging race.

Jackson Walls charged from outside the top-10 to 8th position with Marco Giltrap a stout ninth and Harrison Goodman a big mover into the top-10.

In SP Tools Pro-Am Adrian Flack battled with Matt Slavin on the opening lap of the race before pulling away to claim another class win.

Slavin later struck issues with a right rear puncture, while Rick Armstrong and Sam Fillmore flew the flag for New Zealand to finish second and third.

In Qualifying, David Russell secured his first Carrera Cup TAG Heuer Pole Award since October 2015 as he powered his TekworkX Porsche to the top spot in a wet qualifying session.

Russell edged out championship leader Harri Jones by just 0.012 seconds while Angelo Mouzouris scored his best ever starting position, qualifying third.

Dylan O’Keeffe was fourth with Nash Morriss a personal best fifth.

Adrian Flack scored the TAG Heuer Pole Award in SP Tools Pro-Am, edging out Matt Slavin by just 0.07s.

In Qualifying for Race 2, Dylan O’Keeffe secured the top spot via the second quickest lap of qualifying, with Jones again on the front row of the grid.

Morris was third for Race 2 and David Russell fourth, with Flack again on pole in Pro-Am.

Racing continues tomorrow with the Enduro Cup race in the morning followed by the final sprint race of the weekend to conclude the round later in the afternoon.

Both races will be live on Fox Sports 506, Kayo and Sky Sports NZ.