Jones dominates Carrera Cup opener

Harri Jones was in a league of his own in the opening Porsche Carrera Cup Australia race at the Australian Grand Prix.

Starting from pole, Jones controlled the stop-start 13-lap race, never being troubled from his rivals behind.

It was a significant statement by the 2022 champion who is back racing full time for Porsche Centre Melbourne after racing Supercup in Europe last year.

Bayley Hall won a fierce fight for second ahead of Dale Wood who rounded out the podium.

Jones nailed the start to enjoy a 2.5s lead on the opening lap as Quinn and Hall had a squabble for second.

Eventually Quinn would keep his rival at bay as there was lots of drama up and down the field.

Walls made up seven spots off the start to surge into the top 20 as Scott Pye’s Carrera Cup debut ended within a lap due to coolant issues 

An early SC needed to collect the stopped Nick McBride, while it returned just five laps later when Daniel Stutterd found trouble after spinning at turn 1.

At each restart Jones would drive into the distance leaving Quinn to lead an eight-car train to hold onto second.

At the start of lap 12 Hall made his move and stole second with a smart move through turns 1 and 2.

Within a handful of great racing corners, Quinn was down in fourth after Dale Wood pounced on a small opportunity at turn 5.

Jones cruised to a 7s win over Hall and Wood while Quinn fought off Marcos Flack to keep grip of fourth.

Giltrap, O’Keeffe, Russell, Coulthard and Walls rounded out the top 10, with the latter flying from last on the grid.

Carrera Cup returns for race 2 at 18.25 AEDT Friday evening.

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