A SLOW start couldn’t stop Oscar Targett from extending his lead in the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia Series, taking win number five for the season in a twilight affair at Queensland Raceway. 

Targett started from pole however burst into wheelspin at the start, losing the lead to young Kiwi Ayrton Hodson, who lead his first Sprint Challenge laps after making the better start from the outside of the front row. 

However he was hunted down and passed by the championship leader, who would ultimately streak away to record the win – breaking the lap record in the process. 

Targett had earlier qualified on pole by a substantial 0.4 seconds margin and became the first repeat polesitter of the season, however his slow start ensured he had to work for his race win today. 

After passing Hodson on lap three, the Grove Racing / EBM driver pulled a comfortable lead before consolidating his margin to bring home a comfortable victory. 

The battle behind was far from comfortable, however, as Hodson came under fire from a group of contenders that included Brock Gilchrist. 

After several attempts, the Team Porsche NZ driver was able to sneak past his Kiwi compatriot on the 14th lap to secure second in the race and the series. 

Hodson finished third to secure his best ever race result in the one-make Porsche series, placing best of the McElrea fleet. 

The inter-team rivalry was intense behind Hodson as Clay Osborne and a returning Ryan Suhle battled furiously for fourth position for much of the race. 

Osborne held the sport for the first 10 laps before Suhle passed for position on lap eleven, however a late challenge from Osborne saw the pair duel on the final lap – crossing the line side by side to be ultimately split by 0.0073 seconds at the line – Suhle in front. 

With Osborne fifth, a recovering Hamish Fitzsimmons charged to sixth position, having qualified 10th due to a broken fuel pump ensuring he missed much of the sole practice session earlier in the morning. 

Caleb Sumich was seventh, with Jake Santalucia eighth and Ramu Farrell ninth and first of the Pro-Am runners. 

Farrell spent much of his race chasing Santalucia, having seen off earlier challenges from Tyler Greenbury and Lachy Harburg. 

Greenbury rounded out the 10, while Harburg was 12th outright and second in Pro-Am, Andrew Georgiadis third in his class after a strong race. 

Jacque Jarjo was first home in Class B after a lap one incident ended the race for rivals Brad Carr and Stephen Moylan, Scott Taylor also involved and forced out in his STM #222 entry. 

Today’s result extends Targett’s series lead over Brock Gilchrist by another six points ahead of the remaining two races this weekend. 

Those two races will be held on Saturday at Queensland Raceway and broadcast live and free on the Seven Network.