The Sprint Challenge, alongside Radical Cup Australia, Ferrari Challenge and Group S Classic Sports Cars, completed the SRO Shannons Speed Series support package at The Bend Motorsport Park.
Round 5 of the Porsche series ran across Friday and Saturday. From the outside of the front row, Pro-Am’s Ramu Farrell (Jones Motorsport) surged to an immediate Race 1 lead and stayed ahead throughout.
Fastest in qualifying, Pro contender Tom Bewley (Earl Bamber Motorsport) slipped to third on the opening lap before he, Santalucia and Hunter Robb moved past James Lodge on lap two.
Lodge eventually fell to ninth as Lockie Bloxsom charged from seventh to finish fourth ahead of Ryan Casha, Robb and Class B’s Daniel Quimby. Kamal Mrad crossed next but a 10s penalty dropped him behind Lodge, Tyler Greenbury and Jacque Jarjo.
Bloxsom was first to the flag in Race 2, but contact with Casha at Turn 6 earned him a 10s penalty. Early leader Bewley suffered a downshift drama that shuffled him to eighth, later seventh after Quimby was penalised.
Santalucia, who finished second on the road, inherited victory. Lodge was third before a 5s penalty relegated him behind Farrell, with Casha rounding out the top five.
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The weekend closed with the Jim Richards Enduro, where Santalucia prevailed by 2.7s over Mrad. Lodge was third after briefly leading, while Farrell finished fourth ahead of Bewley, Robb and Casha, who recovered from contact with Bewley at Turn 6.
Quimby was eighth from Lachlan Harburg and Lincoln Evans. For Bloxsom, it was a nightmare outing — splitter damage on lap one followed by a later retirement with heavy front-corner damage.
The Sprint Challenge season concludes at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 program on November 13-15.
Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli
Enzo Cheng claimed the opening race of the final round by 2.9s. Fastest in qualifying despite completing fewer laps than anyone, Cheng held off Antoine Gittany for several laps before breaking clear.
Third was hotly contested as Jim Pollicina charged from sixth, only to be passed after half distance by Cameron Campbell, who went on to finish just 0.4s ahead. From 10th on the grid, Rod Wilson climbed to fifth ahead of Aemel Nordin, Masahiro Taguchi and David Trewern.
Michel Stephan edged Paul Brockbank for ninth and the TP4 class win for the 488 EVO models, despite both spinning together mid-race.
First Focus Radical Cup Australia
With one race remaining, Arise Racing’s Cooper Cutts moved closer to sealing the Radical Cup title after a commanding victory in the first leg.
Cutts started from pole for the 50-minute opener but dropped to third off the line behind teammate Ruairidh Avern and reigning champion Peter Paddon (Garth Walden Racing).
On lap three, Cutts challenged Paddon at Turn 17, forcing him off into the gravel and down to ninth. By lap six, Cutts had passed Avern at Turn 3 and controlled the race thereafter, only surrendering the lead briefly during the pitstop cycle.
Avern finished second while Paddon recovered to third, narrowly ahead of Chris Reindler. Zig Fuhrmeister was fifth and first of the AMs, followed by Ibby Hadeed and Mark Cirillo. Terry Knowles and Brad Russell completed the top ten after late spins, Knowles on the final lap.
Group S Classic Sports Cars
Porsche 911 Carreras dominated the opener, led by Graham Gulson. Although fastest in qualifying, Gulson was relegated for passing under yellows but quickly recovered in the race.
Pole sitter Terry Lawlor (Shelby GT350) led early but retired after three laps with a broken rocker arm, leaving Gulson to control proceedings. James Calvert-Jones battled for second but was eventually overhauled by Geoff Morgan and Doug Barbour.
Behind the Porsche trio, Corvette Stingrays of Joe Calleja and Ray Markiewicz filled the next spots, with Steve Constantinidis narrowly edged by Alex Webster (Porsche) on the final lap.
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