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The Queensland teenager set a new best ever category time of 1:30.3286 in overcast conditions, midway through the Friday afternoon session in the Earl Bamber Motorsport-run Porsche and watched as his rivals attempted to better it. It was his third pole in just six rounds.
TekworkX Motorsport’s Hamish Fitzsimmons was two tenths off in second after he topped the practice session in the morning. Fellow Queenslander Clay Osborne for McElrea Racing, qualified third while Formula Ford graduate Victorian Conor Somers was fourth on his debut for Sonic Motor Racing. On debut Team Porsche NZ’s Brock Gilchrist was fifth.
Alongside in sixth will be another rookie, former Formula Ford racer and Somer’s teammate in Jake Santalucia. Then came Caleb Sumich, Tyler Greenbury, Aron Shields and rookie New Zealand teenager Ayrton Hodson.
In the Pro-Am battle, Ramu Farrell with Jones Motorsport, scored the class pole 11th outright. He edged out former Pro-Am winner Brett Boulton 0.1s. They will line up side-by-side on the sixth row of the grid. Third in class was Andrew Georgiadis ahead of Danny Stutterd and David Greig.
In Class B, Brad Carr’s best was not only good enough for the pole but also 13th outright and ahead of the other Pro-Am contenders. Jacque Jarjo was second in Class B with Stephen Moylan third.
Race 1 of the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia season is on Saturday at Phillip Island, as part of the Shannons SpeedSeries, the Ford Mustang 60th anniversary Race Phillip Island.
The Porsches race once on Saturday. Sunday first race is the Jim Richard’s Endurance Trophy and followed by the final sprint race. All will be shown live on 7plus and 7mate around Australia.
