OSCAR TARGETT has extended his lead atop the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia standings after claiming Round 3 of the series at the NTI Townsville 500 in North Queensland. 

He sealed the deal with victory in the Jim Richards Endurance Trophy race and a fighting second in the final sprint to claim the weekend overall. 

The Grove Racing junior took the weekend overall ahead of Brock Gilchrist and Hamish Fitzsimmons – who claimed his second race victory of the year in the sprint race finale’ that ended the weekend. 

It was a double delight kind of day for TekworkX Motorsport as Fitzsimmons’ teammate Danny Stutterd claimed the Pro-Am round victory. 

He took the weekend over Lachy Harburg, in second, and Marc Cini who finished third aboard his Hallmarc Porsche in his Sprint Challenge return. 

In Class B, Brad Carr extended his championship lead by claiming the round win, taking two of the three races this weekend, Jacque Jarjo the other. 

Townsville was the debut for Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia on a street circuit, the category putting on entertaining racing throughout the weekend. 

It also marked the half-way point of the series with Targett extending his series lead over Gilchrist at the half-way point. 

Stutterd also extended his Pro-Am class lead and Carr his margin in Class B ahead of the next stop on the tour. 

That comes at Queensland Raceway in three weeks time as the Sprint Challenge returns to the Shannons SpeedSeries on 2-3 August. 

Full race recaps follow below. 

RACE 2

OSCAR TARGETT survived early race pressure from Brock Gilchrist before edging away to victory in the Jim Richards Endurance Championship race on Sunday morning at the NTI Townsville 500. 

The Grove Racing Junior made the best start of the leading bunch and led the field into turn two but had to spend the first several laps vigorously defending his position from nearest rival, race one runner-up Brock Gilchrist.

The Team Porsche NZ racer attacked on several occasions but was unable to break Targett’s defence and ultimately slipped a second behind the leader, who edged away to claim his third straight win and fourth of the season on Sunday morning.

Targett becomes the third winner from three Enduro Cup races to date this season following successes for Hamish Fitzsimmons (Phillip Island) and Brock Gilchrist (The Bend) previously.

After running with the leaders early, Clay Osborne slipped back to finish a consistent third and a bag of valuable championship points in the process.

Behind the leading trio, the same as in race one, there were a host of impressive drives as several contenders worked their way from the back of the field following race one dramas.

Hamish Fitzsimmons gained 10 spots to finish fourth, while Nash Morris worked his way from the back to finish sixth in his STM machine.

After late-night rebuilds, both Jake Santalucia and Caleb Sumich were able to make meaningful inroads through the pack in their repaired machines this morning.

Santalucia stormed to 8th position and Sumich 10th after both teams worked to beyond midnight to ensure their cars could start the Enduro Cup race.

There was action aplenty in the Pro-Am ranks, Race 1 winner Brett Boulton and Lachy Harburg making contact early on that would ultimately end the race one winner’s race on the sport.

While Harburg recovered – via a few exciting moments – to second in class, Daniel Stutterd extended his class championship lead with 12th outright and a class win.

They were all, however, trumped by Brad Carr who passed them all to claim 11th outright in his Class B winning 991.1 Cup Car, while Jacque Jarjo finished just behind Stutterd on the road to take second in class.

The 29-lap race ended behind the control of the Porsche Taycan Safety Car following a late spin for Eric Constantinidis, who was stranded at turn seven with less than five minutes remaining.

One final, 20-minute sprint will complete the third round of the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia Series on Sunday afternoon.

That race will start at 12:45pm local time and will be shown live on Fox Sports, Kayo and Channel 7.

RACE 3

HAMISH Fitzsimmons charged to a dominant race win in the third and final race of the weekend in Townsville, his second of the season. 

It was a crushing performance from the TekworkX driver who launched from the second row of the grid and raced his way to the lead early in the final 20-minute sprint.

The win, his second of the season, completed a remarkable comeback that saw the TekworkX driver qualify on pole only to be relegated to a pit lane start for Race 1 following a start line infringement.

He then worked his way through the field to finish 14th in race one and 4th in the second to put himself at the pointy-end f0r the finale’.

That progression, coupled with a fresh set of Michelins saved for the final sprint race, saw him able to race to the lead and win by almost ten seconds.

It was double delight in Townsville for the Gold Coast-based TekworkX team with Danny Stutterd claiming the Pro-Am race and round victory as well.

Behind Fitzsimmons, Oscar Targett and Brock Gilchrist warred for second and third in what would be the battle to see who claimed the round overall.

Targett held the lead early only for Gilchrist to work his way past – though the positions would change several times throughout the race.

Ultimately Targett was able to squeeze past late to secure second which also delivered him the round win – his second in a row.

He claimed the top spot with Gilchrist second for the round – the pair also first and second in the championship at the half-way point.

Fitzsimmons claimed third for the weekend thanks to his mighty comeback, Clay Osborne narrowly missing the podium after receiving a five second penalty for a false start in race three.

Nash Morris ultimately finished fourth and Caleb Sumich fifth after a huge comeback following the late night rebuild – Jake Santalucia just behind in another huge comeback story for the Sonic team.

Osborne – fourth on the road – dropped to seventh with his penalty with Aron Shields and Ayrton Hodson battling furiously over eighth and ninth throughout the final sprint.

Danny Stutterd made it an incredible day for TekworkX thanks to claiming the Pro-Am victory and 10th outright, a result which also ensured he claimed the round overall and extending his championship lead.

Lachy Harburg finished second in class in race three and the round while Marc Cini completed the Pro-Am podium in third aboard his Hallmarc Property Group / Melbourne Performance Centre entry.

Jacque Jarjo took the Class B victory in Race 3, while Brad Carr and Stephen Moylan enjoyed a frenetic battle for second in class.

Carr, however, was able to claim the round victory to build his Class B title lead.