It was a dramatic debut for the second tier Porsche series after a big crash for Conor Somers that shortened qualifying, and a two-car incident in the race that seen it finish under safety car conditions.
Hamish Fitzsimmons was fastest in qualifying but overshot his grid spot for the start. There was another warmup lap as a result, and he was forced to start his TekworkX Motorsport entry from pitlane.
That left McElrea Racing’s Clay Osborne alone on the front row, and he led when the lights went out from Targett, Brock Gilchrist (Earl Bamber Motorsport), Ash Seward Motorsport’s Nash Morris for Scott Taylor Motorsport and Tyler Greenbury.
The top three were able to edge a small margin on Morris by Lap 3 and before the lead changed on the following lap. Targett was able to get out of Turn 2 better and had the lead by Turn 3 where Gilchrist slipped into second place.
Morris was able to hold off Greenbury when he put out the challenge on Lap 5, but pitted a few laps later with steering problems and just before the Safety Car appeared.
Behind sixth placed McElrea’s Ayrton Hobson, his teammate Caleb Sumich had moment at Turn 6 which fired him across the track and into Sonic Racing’s Jake Santalucia who was trying to get by.
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Both cars were damaged, and the Safety Car continued to circulate until the chequered flag was waved.
Targett was the winner ahead of Gilchrist, Osborne, Greenbury and Hobson. Aron Shields finished with sixth place ahead of Pro Am winner Brett Boulton, class rivals Lachie Harburg and Danny Stutterd.
Class B’s Brad Carr and Jacque Jarjo finished 10th and 11th ahead of Pro Ams Marc Cini and Eric Constantinidis. After his pitlane and a spin at Turn 11 on the second lap. Fitzsimmons finished 14th.
The Porsches are scheduled for Race 2 on Sunday morning at 7:45am with the third and final race at 12:45pm.
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