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With victory at Laguna Seca, Tom Sargent becomes the first Australian to take a race win in Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America. In damp conditions he won Race 1 and backed up with third place in Race 2.
It was Round 7 and for the first time the series held a points-earning round at the Porsche Rennsport Reunion. The festival has been arguably hailed as the biggest collection of Porsches at the one time anywhere in the world.
Driving for McElrea Racing, in an entry that numbered 37, Sargent missed out of pole position by 0.078s, edged out by Englishman Will Martin.
From the outside of the front row, Sargent was relegated to fourth with the track damp after early morning showers. Sargent took third off Alex Sedgwick when the latter ran wide on the climb up the hill to the Corkscrew.
Martin and championship leader Riley Dickinson locked wheels and ran wide on the approach to the Corkscrew. That allowed Sargent to dive up the inside and take the lead. He was never headed despite a mid-race Safety Car, crossed the line 6.658s ahead of Sean Varwig.
Sargent’s first race victory was also the first for the McElrea Racing team which branched out to campaign the North American Porsche Championship in 2023. Sargent sits in second position in the series in his rookie year. In the series so far, he has been on the podium eight times in 14 races.
Also at the event was Bayley Hall in a second McElrea Racing entry. He qualified ninth, 0.648s off pole and finished seventh in the first race and 13th in the second.
Other feature events at the festival included the renowned Porsche Tractor race, which featured featuring another Australian in Matt Campbell, driving for the first time in the Le Mans start event.
From California, Sargent will go directly to Indianapolis for his GT Debut in the Indy 8 Hour driving a Mercedes-AMG GT3. Then both McElrea Racing drivers will be on to the Circuit of The Americas with McElrea for the eighth and final round of the Carrera Cup North America Series on October 22-23.
