Wood takes finale, champ crashes out
Dale Wood is back in a Porsche and won the Carrera Cup finale in Adelaide that ended early after champion Harri Jones became the latest Turn 8 victim.
Only seven laps were possible in the final race of the year after Jones followed Glen Wood into the Turn 8 concrete.
Glenn Wood was first on the scene and became the latest to clip the inside kerb and fire hard into the outside fence.
Right behind him was Jones, who was slightly off line and followed the #911 into the concrete, recreating scenes of 2006 when Mark Skaife and Greg Murphy did the same.
With significant left hand side damage, both Porsches were stricken in the middle of the track and the race ended under yellows.
Before the race-ending Safety Car, Dale Wood bounced back from losing Race 2 at the final corner to dominate the final sprint thanks to a fast start.
With the top two in the championship already secured, all eyes turned to Dylan O’Keeffe and Jackson Walls as they battled for third.
Whoever finished the final race in front took the coveted position and they fought for it like the world championship.
Despite Walls making a good dive at Turn 9, O’Keeffe had the last laugh by making an even more opportunistic and well executed pounce at Turn 7.
That not only secured second on the road behind the dominant Dale Wood, but also third in the championship.
It was a dramatic race with a number of incidents taking place all over the track before the Turn 8 drama with Ryder Quinn, David Wall, Indiran Padayachee, Stephen Grove and Matt Belford all caught in chaos.
Marc Cini was the only DNF, Russell did not complete a lap, but was safe in second in the championship.
It completed a dramatic weekend of racing for the Porsches that had drama at every turn.
There was action aplenty in the opening Carrera Cup race that was controlled from Wood.
After taking pole by a tenth, Wood controlled the field, but all the drama was behind him in the 20-lap opener.
It started in the fourth corner of the race where Mat Belford and Sam Shahin took each other out and sparked an immediate Safety Car.
A second attempt at racing did not last long either as Lachlan Bloxsom took out David Russell at Turn 9.
A stretch of racing finally took place at the third attempt and an intriguing battle for third took place between Bayley Hall and Harri Jones.
Determined to gain ground in the Enduro Cup on second placed Jackson Walls, Jones made a move on Hall at the hairpin.
But the champion got it wrong and sent Hall into a spin.
Jones received a 15s penalty for the clash, which saw him fall to 14th.
Dylan O’Keeffe was the beneficiary, being promoted to third with Angelo Mouzouris and David Wall completing the top five.
Up front Walls pressured Wood the whole way, but the Earl Bamber Motorsport veteran held on by four tenths. Adrian Flack easily won Pro Am.
The second race was an instant classic thanks to a stunning battle for the lead that was not decided until the very last corner.
Wood put himself in the best spot to go back to back, by getting a perfect start from pole ahead of Russell and Hall.
However, Hall was on the move and only needed one lap to dispose of Russell and take second.
This led to a stunning race-long battle as Hall set his sights on leader Wood.
It all came down to the final lap as they crossed the line nose to tail.
Hall shadowed Wood throughout the last tour and Wood appeared to have him covered as they approached the final hairpin.
Wood placed his car in the middle of the road, but not far enough to stop Hall from giving it a hail Mary.
Hall went for it and squeezed his Porsche between the inside kerb and Wood and muscled his way past.
He completed a stunning last-corner move to steal the win.
Watching all the action from 2s back was Russell in third with Jones and David Wall rounding out the top five.
However, Wood hit back by winning the final race and completing the year on a high.
Porsche Carrera Cup Adelaide round results
VAILO Adelaide 500 Supercars schedule
Practice 1: 1: J. Courtney 1:19.6835 2: D. Reynolds +0.1553 3: N. Percat +0.3242
Practice 2: 1 D. Reynolds 1:19.4804 2: C. Waters +0.0840 3: C. Mostert +0.1023
Qualifying – 1 W. Brown 1:19.4425 2: C. Waters +0.3631 3: T. Randle +0.4123
Practice 3 – 1 W. Brown 1:19.7649 2 B. Feeney +0.1894 3 T. Randle +0.2517
Top 10 Shootout – 1 C. Waters 1:19.9628 2: T. Randle +0.1182 3: B. Feeney +0.1847
Race 23 1: B. Feeney 2: W. Brown +12.8028 3: C. Waters +13.7810
Qualifying – Sun 10.20-10.35
Top 10 Shootout – Sun 12.35-13.35
Race 24 (78 laps) – Sun 15.15
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