Trans-Tasman fight for Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge title

The Earl Bamber Motorsport teammates are split by 91 points with 181 up for grabs. They are the only two that can win the championship at Sydney Motorsport Park, as part of the Shannons SpeedSeries’ Race Sydney.

Targett has won eight races. Gilchrist has taken out two and his consistency has kept him in the hunt. Gilchrist does lead the Jim Richards Enduro Trophy by 12 points, with the ‘series within a series’ to be decided on Saturday morning. Both titles will be decided, as well as the Pro-Am and Class B battles.

Targett’s rise to the top started with his debut last year. He missed the first round before a strong run home to finish third in the championship behind eventual winner Marco Giltrap and Aaron Shields.

As part of the Grove Racing junior program, Targett will aim to deliver the outfit’s their first Porsche title since Stephen Grove’s Pro-Am successes in Carrera Cup Australia.

Gilchrist crossed the Tasman this year after he won the Porsche New Zealand Scholarship that has supported Ryan Wood, Callum Hedge and Marco Giltrap to success in Australian Porsche competition under the Team Porsche New Zealand banner.

Gilchrist’s strong season included a Enduro Cup race win at The Bend in Round 2 and another strong win in Tasmania where he and Targett spent much of the event locked together.

After five different race winners in the first five races, this year’s title battle has been dominated since by the pair who have won nine of the subsequent 10 races between them.

Kiwi Clay Osborne sits third and 99 points clear of his McElrea Racing teammate Caleb Sumich, while a late-season surge from Ayrton Hodson has him fifth just 12 points behind.

In Pro-Am, Lachy Harburg holds a comfortable lead with Andrew Georgiadis his closest rival in his rookie season. Harburg will aim to secure his second title after he took out the Class B championship in 2022 and was runner-up last year.

Second-placed Danny Stutterd has elected not to compete in Sydney, and that will pave the way for Georgiadis and fourth placed Eric Constantinidis to overhaul the TekworkX driver in the standings.

The Class B title has been already been taken out by Jacque Jarjo who will step up to the Pro-Am ranks this weekend for the first time. In the meantime, Daniel Quimby will make his Class B debut.

The sixth round will begin on Friday with a 45min practice session at 12:55pm local time, followed by Qualifying at 3:55pm and Race 1 at 6:55pm. On Saturday the 45min Enduro Cup decider starts at 9:25am and the title decider is set for 2:10pm.

Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Round 6 Entry List at Sydney Motorsport Park