Wood holds his nerve in Carrera Cup opener

Dale Wood survived onslaught after onslaught to claim a tense opening Porsche Carrera Cup race in Adelaide as Jackson Walls hung onto the points lead.

Despite taking a lights to flag success, Wood had to put out many spot fires on his way to a hard-earned 0.7s win over Hedge, who secured the Endurance Cup.

But he was unable to snatch the championship lead with Walls right behind him in third after a tense race that included numerous battles and mistakes at the front of the field.

Many tried to knock Wood off from P1, but the experienced driver held firm against every challenger and his route to victory started at the very beginning.

Wood got the jump on Hedge and led the early laps as Max Vidau and Hall both shot past O’Keeffe.

On lap 3 Hedge had a peak at taking the lead at turn 7 bit backed out just in time to avoid contact

This left the Kiwi under pressure to Vidau but by the time they arrived at turn 9 he was the one on the defence, just holding onto third from Bailey Hall.

This little contest sparked a major battle for fourth with the likes of Dylan O’Keeffe, Fabian Coulthard and Hall trading paint and making moves up the staircase.

It eventually ended in tears as Hall’s dive down in the inside of Coulthard saw the pink BWT car rotated.

The stewards did not believe Hall got up far enough and was hit by a 15s penalty. His opinion under the helmet was clear as he became the first ever Carrera Cup driver to post a 1:20s at Adelaide.

Although the skirmish allowed the top three to build a gap over the angry pack, O’Keeffe was the fastest car on track, setting record-breaking pace in fourth.

By lap 8 Hedge was looking aggressive under the rear wing of Wood and 2 laps later he made his move.

The Kiwi made a late-braking switchback at the end of Wakefield Street, but Wood immediately responded to retake the lead at the following left hander.

Suddenly a five-car train from Wood to Hall emerged as the intensity was reaching boiling point with rain in the air.

Further back Walls made an important move on Alex Davison to get sixth.

With 8 laps to go rain drops could be seen around the track to add to the degree of difficulty with the likes of Walls just one of many with a bad sportsmanship flag for kerb hopping.

The tension proved too much by lap 16 when Vidau had to two looks at stealing second from Hedge, while the penalised Hall spun himself at turn 9 with assistance from O’Keeffe, who also received a 15s penalty.

After Vidau displaced Hedge and Walls pounced on a mistake from O’Keeffe, the championship contenders ran line astern.

Vidau was a man on a mission and had a shot at the lead at turn 9 on the inside of Wood, but got it wrong and the #72 did a 360-degree spin on the kerb.

The fight for the Pro Am win went over the line when Sam Shahin and Dean Cook tangled at the final corner.

All the chaos allowed Wood to pull a second on Hedge as the race and the rain settled down.

Despite all 23 laps taking place, the chequered flag did not wave and the cars continued to press on.

Thankfully there were no overtakes as Wood was greeted by the flag a lap later than usual.

The fight for the title continues in the second Porsche Carrera Cup Australia race in Adelaide at 13.20 AEDT on Saturday.

Image: Peter Norton Epic Sports Photography 

Porsche Carrera Cup Australia race 1 results

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