A POWERFUL performance has delivered Oscar Targett the first three-peat of the 2024 season, sweeping all three races to claim Round 4 of the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia Series at Queensland Raceway. 

Having claimed pole, a race one win and the lap record on Friday, Targett backed up that performance with two wins on Saturday to head to Tasmania’s penultimate round of the series with a much more comfortable championship lead with two events and six races left in his second Porsche season.

Targett’s excellent weekend came despite ceding the lead in all three races, slow starts from the dirty side of the road ensuring he had to work for his wins this weekend.

Targett trailed Brock Gilchrist on the opening lap of Race two, another short sprint race held Saturday morning.

The pair escaped from the chasing pack early before a locked brake saw the Team Porsche NZ driver spin at turn three, dropping the race lead and falling down the pack, ultimately finishing in ninth position.

That left Targett in the lead while a five-car fight for the minors broke out with Ayrton Hodson holding down second from a charging Hamish Fitzsimmons, Clay Osborne and Ryan Suhle – only for Osborne to leap from fourth to second in a single move on the third lap.

That’s where the Kiwi would finish, Fitzsimmons crossing the line in third position on the road before a 10-second penalty dropped him down to a final finish of 16th.

Suhle was the beneficiary, claiming third, while Hodson finished fourth and Jake Santalucia was fifth in his Sonic Motor Racing #777 entry.

Aron Shields was sixth, Caleb Sumich seventh while Ramu Farrell – who spent much of his race dicing with Santalucia before dropping back in the final two laps – claimed the Pro-Am class win and finished eighth overall – in front of Gilchrist and Lachy Harburg.

Jacque Jarjo continued his strong Class B form, taking the win and finishing 15th outright.

Race 3 doubled as the Jim Richards’ endurance trophy encounter, run over 45-minutes in the afternoon light.

The race would prove a dramatic affair with several Safety Car interruptions and ultimately, a finish under caution.

Targett again struggled to launch his Grove car from pole, Osborne racing into the early lead he would hold for the first two laps before his rival again pounced – sweeping to the lead on lap three.

It would be a lead he’d never lose, though Osborne continued to apply the pressure throughout – never falling more than 1.5 seconds behind Targett in a relentless pursuit of the leader.

Suhle again finished third, while Brock Gilchrist recovered valuable points to fourth position, leading Ayrton Hodson to the line. Tyler Greenbury was sixth, Santalucia seventh and Hamish Fitzsimmons eighth having started 16th.

Ramu Farrell completed his sweep of the Pro-Am leaderboard by finishing ninth outright while Jacque Jarjo was the same in Class B, winning all three races and claiming 10th in the finale’.

The race was a dramatic affair with incidents claiming Aron Shields, Ross McGregor and Mark Darling throughout the eventful 29-lap journey.

Targett’s three wins ensured he walked away from Queensland with maximum points, provisionally extending his series lead over Brock Gilchrist to 87 points with two rounds remaining.

Osborne banked his best ever Sprint Challenge round with second overall while Ryan Suhle returned to the podium in third, having not raced a Porsche since the end of the 2022 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia season on the Gold Coast.

Ayrton Hodson and Brock Gilchrist completed the top five for round four, while Osborne also moved to third in the series’ standings with his strong performance.

Ramu Farrell’s clean sweep saw him take the Pro-Am round victory over Lachy Harburg and Andrew Georgiadis, while Harburg now leads the series following Danny Stutterd’s absence in Queensland.

Jacque Jarjo swept the Class B round to take his third win of the season and extend his commanding class lead.

The next round of the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia Series will see the series return to the Apple Isle to contest the Ned Whiskey Tasmania SuperSprint in two weeks time.