Carrera Cup title challenge revived for Gold Coast 500

Last season the Carrera Cup Australia title was decided at the Gold Coast 500, and this year’s visit to the streets of the Surfers Paradise sees a renewed title scrap to set up the Adelaide 500 finale.

This year’s visit to the GC has a different feel, being that it’s the round that will set up the Adelaide 500 finale, and owing to an absent championship leader at the Bathurst 1000 the race to the title is again blown wide open.

Callum Hedge wrestled the championship lead from Jackson Walls at The Bend after holding it for most of the season, before going on to seal the Michelin Junior Drivers cup at the Sandown 500, as well as push out his lead to 116 points.

Hedge looked like he could have done anything at Sandown, whereas Walls had the feel of misfortune around every corner to lose his grip on the championship lead.

Carrera Cup title hopeful Jackson Walls fought back to keep the championship alive at the Bathurst 1000 round. Image: EDGE Photography

After the Kiwi young gun sat out Bathurst to maintain his lead in the Formula Regional America’s Championship (where he won 2 of the 3 races in Virginia), it was up to Walls to make amends, which he had to do against one of the best quality fields the one-make Aussie championship had ever seen.

The #11 Objective Racing youngster answered by finishing fourth behind the likes of a returning Harri Jones, Supercup international Harry King, and quality kiwi journeyman Chris Van Der Drift (driving Hedge’s car).

He looked as though he’d shot himself in the foot by qualifying 11th, but he gave it a rinse and finished 6th, 5th and 4th to earn enough points and shut the gap to Hedge to only six points.

“Qualifying put us on the back foot for the whole weekend but finishing 4th the Round was definitely a positive to take out of it…seeing the first 3 were all fly-ins for the round,” Walls described the effort.

Carrra Cup championship leader Callum Hedge will relish the renewed title challenge at the Gold Coast 500

The streets of GC will suit Wall’s driving style, and it sets up a great challenge to the very confident Hedge, who himself will love the fact that he’s once again got Walls still breathing down his neck.

There was a slight feeling of a potentially close championship finish slipping away, and now it’s likely to go down to the wire at the Adelaide 500, making this penultimate round a potential thriller on the streets of the Surfers Paradise.

Event Schedule
Friday, 27 October
11:50am – Practice 1 (25 min)
3:15pm – Practice 2 (25 min)

Saturday, 28 October
10:45am – Qualifying 1 (12 min)
11:03am – Qualifying 2 (12 min)
3:25pm – Race 1 (16 laps)

Sunday, 29 October
9:30am – Race 2 (28 laps)
1:55pm – Race 3 (16 laps)

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