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Aaron Love steered clear of drama to win the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Endurance Cup Race at Sandown.
The Sonic Motor Racing driver took the chequered flag in the wild 31-lap encounter ahead of team-mate Simon Fallon, who returned his best result in Carrera Cup, while championship leader Harri Jones (McElrea Racing) moved up two spots to finish on the podium.
The big movers in the field followed with David Russell (EMA Motorsport) making five positions to finish fourth, while Callum Hedge (Earl Bamber Motorsport) moved up eight spots to finish fifth.
Luke Youlden (TechworkX Motorsport, David Wall (Wall Racing), Jackson Walls (McElrea Racing), Brad Shiels (Royal Purple Racing), and Ryan Suhle (Earl Bamber Motorsport) rounded out the top 10.
Matthew Belford claimed Pro-Am class honours, ahead of Liam Talbot (Wash It/Paynter Dixon), and Adrian Flack (AGAS National).
It was a frantic start, with a fast-starting Max Vidau (TechworkX Motorsport) storming into the lead, setting up a four-wide run into Turn 1, before running wide and handing the lead back to pole-sitter Dylan O’Keeffe (RAM Motorsport) with Love in second.
There was drama back in the field on the opening lap for Pro-Am competitor Sam Shahin, while there was also contact between Duvashen Padayachee and Rodney Jane (Sonic Motor Racing) at Dandenong Road.
The following lap, Christian Pancione (VCM Performance) and Dale Wood (Timken Racing) locked into each other and bashed doors, with the incident set to be investigated post-race.
There was an intense battle for the lead on Lap 5 after Love ran wide at Turn 1, opening the door up for O’Keeffe to pose a challenge.
The RAM Motorsport driver experienced wheel spin on the run out of Turn 4, inviting Vidau to join the fray.
The trio ran three wide down the back straight into the kink at Turn 6 before O’Keeffe ran wide, barrelling over the kerb, before making contact with Vidau and sending him into the fence.
Prior to the Safety Car making its way onto the track, O’Keeffe ran off at the last corner with a broken radiator eventually putting him out of the race.
The Safety Car ran for several laps with Love leading from Jones, who was the major beneficiary from the championship-defining incident, while Fallon moved up into third.
The restart was not without drama, with Angelo Mouzouris (Sonic Motor Racing) locking up into Turn 1, causing him to drop from fourth to 14th.
There was also contact between Pro-Am competitors Geoff Emery (Force Accessories) and Stephen Grove (Grove Racing).
Fallon dove down the inside of Jones on Lap 11, with minor contact between the pair, to move into second and seal an eventual Sonic Motor Racing one-two finish.
A Time Certain Finish saw the chequered flag waved on Lap 23.
The final Carrera Cup race for the round will commence at 14:20 AEST.
