Walls has no Bend regrets heading into Sandown
The Porsche Carrera Cup hits Sandown this weekend and the top of the table battle between Jackson Walls and Callum Hedge has a bit of extra juice in it with the Junior Drivers Cup on the line.
The two drivers separated themselves from the chasing pack at The Bend, and the timely clean sweep from Team Porsche New Zealand’s Hedge to take the championship lead also saw him take the lead in the coveted Michelin Junior Drivers award.
Aside from the fact that there’s four rounds and the ultimate title fight to play for, also on the line is a trip to Germany at the end of the year to participate in the global Porsche Motorsport Junior Shootout, where pathway to Mobil 1 Supercup can be had.
Walls fought hard to finish runner-up on the podium for the opening two races at The Bend having qualified in third, before a costly lunge on Hedge for the lead on the penultimate corner of Race 3 saw him spin out on the kerb to finish back in P11, letting go of some precious points.
Walls and Hedge do battle into Turn 1 at the Bend: EDGE Photographics
That gave Hedge a 35 point lead in the Junior, and ultimately the championship stakes going into Sandown, but Walls told AUTO ACTION that whilst he’ll learn from the slip up, he didn’t let it get to him.
“I was pretty well over it within 15 minutes of the race finishing, but looking back I don’t regret it and I don’t think I ever will,” said the #11 Objective Racing youngster.
“I know that for the future I probably won’t do that again, it was just one of those errors that was pretty big at the time, but I’ll only learn from that and I refuse to have regrets about it. Everything happens for a reason, if not for giving you some lessons to consider later.”
Hedge led Walls in the thrilling fight for the win that went down to the final lap at The Bend. Image: Mark Horsburgh
Walls also has plenty of racing experience at Sandown, and will look to maximise the qualifying to get the most out of his tyres come the racing.
“If you push too hard with your tyres at the start of the race, it really comes back to bite you in the second half, so you’ve got to go at a cool, calm, and collected pace…but it’s important to utilise them in the qualifying runs.
“When you look at it as a whole in terms of the year, where you’ve qualified after you hit Turn 3 in a race is about where you finish…or your race is over, except for some exceptional circumstances.
Jackson Walls and his father Tony enjoy a well earnt family moment at the AGP with a win in round 1. Image: Mark Horsburgh
“All I can really do is drive my best and see what happens, and then out comes the outcome, but you can never really know until the day.
“I just need to be faster than him (Hedge) and make no mistakes and capitalise on any of his, because I think it’s going to be pretty tight.
“I feel like I’m pretty quick at Sandown as it’s my fifth or sixth time racing there, and I feel I was pretty good there last year except for a few errors, so I know I can get to the top step this weekend if I put my head down.”
Kiwi young gun Callum Hedge is looming large in the battle for the Pro and Junior championship after a solid three rounds has him in the lead of both
Hedge and Jones have claimed 9 out of the 11 junior race wins contested so far this year, with the Hedge having taken six of the last eight in a big charge, whilst Max Vidau has taken two.
With Christian Pancione and Simon Fallon having a strong rounds at the Bend, Max Vidau slipped back slightly in the title chase, as well as the Junior standings, and enters Sandown 171 points off the lead, which means his chances for the junior driver award are down to a mathematical hail-Mary, with 180 points up for grabs.
The on track action starts on Friday with two practice sessions with the two part qualifying coming prior to two races on Saturday, whilst the Sunday finale will take place before the start of the Supercars Sandown 500 enduro.
AUSTRALIAN PORSCHE JUNIOR SHOOTOUT NOMINEES AND WINNERS
2012- Andre Hemigartner
2014- Sam Power
2015 – Nick Foster & Richard Muscat
2016- Matt Campbell (won shootout)
2017- Dylan O’Keefe
2018- Jaxon Evans (won shootout) & Dylan O’Keefe
2019- Jordan Love
2021- Cooper Murray
2022- Harri Jones
For more of the latest motorsport news, pick up the latest issue of AUTO ACTION or subscribe HERE
Latest podcast: It’s Supercars testing time, and a bonza for Monza!
It is a testing time for Supercars… sorry, it is testing time for #Supercars and there is rain and crashes as they get ready for the revived Sandown 500. And what is the story with Brodie Kostecki and the Stats? Monza was maybe the best #F1 for the year even though Max Verstappen made it 10 in a row.
Listen to our latest podcast episode here or on your podcast app of choice.
