Jonny Reid has claimed his second Porsche City Index Carrera Cup Australia round win of the season after a ‘perfect’ final day in Townsville.
The New Zealand driver starred in Race 2 on Sunday morning, taking the lead from the start of the 14-lap race and keeping reigning champion Craig Baird at bay into the opening corner.
Reid took a two-second win from countryman Baird, with Saturday’s Race 1 winner Alex Davison finishing third from Nick Foster, Steven Richards, Matt Kingsley, Daniel Gaunt, Andre Heimgartner, Tim Leahey, Tom Tweedie and Elite Class race winner Shane Smollen.
Reid continued his run at the front in Race 3, leading Baird and Davison in the opening lap.
While Davison moved past Baird into second on Lap 2, Reid had pulled a gap on the field and remained unchallenged until a safety car on Lap 11; called to the track after Nick Foster and Andre Heimgartner made contact at speed at the exit of the Turn 1 curve.
The contact sent Heimgartner into the wall, with Foster subsequently handed a 40 point penalty for the incident.
The chequered flag was waved under the caution period, leaving Reid to claim his second race win for the round and his fifth race victory for the season – the highest number of wins by any driver this year.
“It was a near perfect weekend. We learnt from Race 1 where we held a comfortable lead and then fell into the clutches of Alex Davison, finishing second. I knew I had to go one better today and really work hard with the boys to get that car working perfectly,” said Reid.
“Race 3 was the closest we’ve had the car to being perfect. All in all, two fastest laps, two wins and a second place for the round win was a great weekend.”
Davison and Baird finished second and third in Race 3 ahead of Steven Richards, Daniel Gaunt, Matt Kingsley, Tim Leahey and Max Twigg in eight.
Twigg capitalised on Smollen’s misfortune in the final race, where the latter spun on Lap 2 and dropped to the rear of the field after taking the Elite Class race win in the previous two Townsville races.
Twigg therefore inherited the round victory and strengthened his Elite Class points lead.
“It’s always good to get a race win. It took us a little while to get on the pace; we found an issue with the car that we fixed in the last race, so it’s good to come away with that knowledge.”
Elite Class trio Ray Angus, Marc Cini and Michael Loccisano finished an impressive ninth, 10th and 11th respectively in the final race.
Smollen recovered to finish 12th in Race 3, leaving the Sydneysider second for the round in the Elite Class ahead of Ray Angus, who’s ninth place in Race 3 was his career best result, promoting him to third for the round - his first ever Carrera Cup podium.
Angus was also the recipient of the Mobil 1 Hard Charger Award for gaining the most positions throughout the Townsville weekend.
With three rounds remaining in the 2012 season, Baird holds a 78-point lead in the standings ahead of Davison, with Reid reducing his margin to Davison to 95 points in third.
Max Twigg now leads the Elite Class by 249 points over James Koundouris, who was absent from the Townsville round, with Shane Smollen third in the points a further 37 points behind.
Click here to view the Townsville round results and current championship points. The Porsche City Index Carrera Cup Australia championship’s next round is at the
iconic Mount Panorama circuit in Bathurst for Round 6 of the 2012 Porsche season.
