Jones goes back to back
Harri Jones remains the pacesetter in Porsche Carrera Cup Australia after going back to back at Bathurst with ease.
After surviving a one-lap sprint in Friday’s opener, Jones cruised to a 2s win over David Russell in Saturday afternoon’s follow-up sprint.
The championship leader picked up from where from where he left off, winning a tight fight for pole position.
His 2:05.1652 was just 0.0499s clear of Dale Wood with David Russell and Jackson Walls making up the minors. Adrian Flack was well clear of Sam Shahin in Pro Am.
Jones retained control of the field instantly in what was an eventful 40-minute opener.
Behind him Russell snatched second from Wood, but the Safety Car was required almost instantly as Harrison Goodman had a big shunt at Reid Park.
A second attempt at racing was not overly successful after Sam Shahin and Adrian Flack came together at Griffins Bend.
Although Shahin could escape, Flack was standard on the kerb and the Safety Car returned.
A third and final Safety Car arrived when Marcos Flack was spun into pit wall on the exit of Murrays.
It was a tangle between Sonic teammates with Angelo Mouzouris involved.
This meant the race was decided by a one-lap sprint to the flag where Jones took another win over Russell and Wood.
Bailey Hall was fourth, but fifth place was enough for Walls to secure the Junior title.
In Pro Am Rodney Jane avoided the drama to take a first win since the season opener.
Under sunny skies in race 2 Jones again got a great leap to beat Russell into Turn 1.
But there was drama further back as Matt Slavin and Stephen Grove tangled on the exit of Hell Corner.
Grove was the major loser, being forced to retire due to the sustained damage from the trip to the infield.
Mouzouris bowled a wide at The Chase after a massive lockup where he went airborne over the gravel.
With Jones in complete control ahead of Russell, all eyes were on the fights for third and seventh.
Wood had Walls up his trumpet as they battled to have the final spot on the podium, while Nash Morris led a five-car train.
Morris cracked when he found the dirt at Skyline, which opened the door for a thrilling fight when they arrived at Mountain Straight.
Morris, O’Keeffe and David Wall went three wide up the blast to Griffins Bend and O’Keeffe appeared to win the battle on the outside.
However, Morris went deep into Griffins Bend and the masterful move on the inside ensured he somehow retained seventh place.
Wall managed to jump O’Keeffe amid the squabbling. Wood also held onto third being three tenths clear of Walls.
But there were no scares for Jones as he cruised to a 1.8s triumph.
He hopes to record another clean sweep in the third and final race at 9.15 AEDT on Bathurst Day.
Image: Mark Horsburgh
2024 Bathurst 1000
Practice 1: 1: Matt Payne 2:07.2941 2: Cameron Waters +0.0366 3: Will Brown +0.0373
Practice 2: 1: J. Whincup 2:07.4788 2: C. Murray +0.0370 3: J. Ojeda +0.1860
Practice 3: 1: B. Feeney 2:06.7842 2: T. Randle +0.0614 3: J. Courtney +0.0700
Practice 4: 1: B. Kostecki 2:06.1820 2: C. Waters +0.1636 3: B. Feeney +0.3455
Qualifying: 1: M. Payne 2:05.6452 2: C. Waters +0.0060 3: B. Feeney +0.0113
Practice 5: Sat 10.05-11.05 (co drivers)
Practice 6: Sat 13.05-14.05 (all drivers)
Top 10 Shootout: Sat 17.05
Warm up: Sun 8.15-8.35
Bathurst 1000: Sun 11.30 (161 laps)
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