Darwin supports: Wood raises bat in 100th Carrera Cup race 

It is a big day of racing at Darwin where Porsche Carrera Cup, Australian Superbikes and Aussie Racing Cars produced plenty of action for the fans.

Porsche Carrera Cup

Dale Wood showed off his skills by taking a commanding win in the Porsche Carrera Cup opener at Darwin.

Although Wood’s #992 led all 18 laps, right behind his bumper was Jackson Walls, who extended his championship lead after Max Vidau had to fight to finish ninth.

After edging out Walls to pole by 0.0581s Wood got a great jump off the line and enjoyed a clear run into Turn 1.

Behind him Walls bogged it down and had to fight to hold onto second, but veteran Alex Davison had an even worse start.

Davison stalled it on the line, but quickly went to work regaining positions to move up the order and by Lap 6 the #222 was in the top 15.

Dylan O’Keeffe had a tough race and was pushed off onto the grass on exit of Turn 5, while Bailey Hall also went wide at the following corner.

O’Keeffe struggled for pace until the chequered flag and eventually finished last.

The battle for Pro-Am was interesting with Adrian Flack snatching the lead from Sam Shahin with a dive down the inside of Turn 4.

But Shahin emerged on top after Flack lost four positions on Lap 15.

The race was clean, but Rodney Jane spun on exit of Turn 1 after a battle for fourth in class being forced to take evasive action from Tim Miles and Daniel Stutterd’s battle.

Chris Pither and Vidau put on a show, going side by side from turn 1 to 6 with Vidau finally making it stick at the exit of the hairpin to take ninth.

Despite a late charge from Walls, Wood was in complete control as he celebrated his milestone race perfectly.

He led Walls by just 0.3s with Thomas Maxwell a further 6s back in third.

Carrera Cup has two more races on the schedule on Sunday with the first at 10.50 AEST.

Aussie Racing Cars

Cody Brewczynski and Joel Heinrich fight for the lead at Turn 5 in close Aussie Racing Cars action.

The Aussie Racing Cars Super Series had a busy Saturday with no less than three races on the schedule at Darwin.

The action started in familiar fashion with championship leader Joel Heinrich showing his muscle once again to collect his 10th win of the season.

Reigning champion Josh Anderson led away from pole as he and Heinrich settled into a three-horse race with Cody Brewczynski joining the fun.

Car #1 was only in P1 for two laps until Heinrich made a move at Turn 5.

This proved to be the decisive moment as Heinrich went on to take a 2.4s win ahead of Anderson and Brewczynski.

Race 2 was a dramatic affair with a fierce battle for position at the front. Anderson once again got the supreme start to lead the field into Turn 1.

Further back Athens 2004 Silver medallist John Steffensen spun after getting tangled up with Leslie Corish.

The race turned on Lap 5 when Heinrich stole the lead from Anderson, who also dropped behind Brewczynski in the process.

Despite Heinrich’s move, it was far from over with less than a second covering the top four cars during the closing stages.

But for the 10th time in 14 races, Heinrich once again crossed the line first, just three tenths ahead of Reece Chapman, who was a late mover in the jostling for position.

The loser was Anderson, who slipped to fourth behind Brewczynski.

The third and final race of Saturday was crazy, being decided by a single-lap showdown following a late-race Safety Car.

The reverse grid affair kicked off in dramatic style with Cody McKay, Scott Dornan and Adam Uebergang sharing the lead for brief periods.

But further back the leading contenders were scything their way through the field and a battle between Anderson, Anthony Di Mauro, Heinrich and Uebergang allowed Brewczynski to skip to a 1.7s lead before the Safety Car arrived.

This was required after Denis Butler parked his car due to debris, which set up a one-lap dash.

Brewczynski got his elbows out to defend the lead as the pack fought like crazy for the minor positions. 

In the end Brewczynski scored a breakthrough win ahead of Anderson and Di Mauro, who snatched third after going side by side with Heinrich.

The final Aussie Racing Cars race is at 11.30 AEST on Sunday.

Australian Superbikes

Josh Waters was in peerless form in the Australian Superbikes opener at Darwin.

Fans enjoyed some two-wheel action courtesy of the Australian Superbikes at Darwin, which was all about one man, Josh Waters.

The championship leader sent a strong statement by converting pole position into an all the way win at Hidden Valley.

Despite not getting a strong initial getaway off the line, Waters led the field into Turn 1 after a strong second phase of the start.

This forced Glenn Allerton, Mike Jones and Troy Herfoss to fight for second as the Suzuki of Jack Davis went off.

Glenn Allerton slipped from second to fourth on Lap 6 as Jones pulled off a brave move at the fast Turn 2 and 3 complex on his Yamaha.

Their fight ignited again with three laps to go when Allerton slipped back past Jones at the hairpin.

However, there was no one getting close to Waters, who crushed to a commanding 1.27s win over Herfoss and Allerton.

The Superbikes have two races on the cards on Sunday with the first at 9.00 AEST.

Saturday, June 17

Qualifying (Race 13): 12.00-12.50

Race 13 (35 laps): 15.55-16.53

Sunday, June 18

Qualifying (Race 14): 10.00-10.15

Qualifying (Race 15): 10.20-10.35

Race 14 (35 laps): 12.20-13.18

Race 15 (35 laps): 15.55-16.53

Download the full Supercars Darwin Round 5 Event Guide with track stats and facts and a full event schedule, plus our extensive driver profiles HERE

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