The Bend Carrera Cup Review

Image - Insyde Media

Round 5 of the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship has been run and done. It wasn’t our best weekend, but it was one that we can learn from moving forward.

Friday saw us complete two practice sessions followed by Qualifying and a Race on Saturday. Practice was very productive, we managed to quickly get the car in the setup window and at the same time I was feeling at one with the track. In Qualifying, we were sitting P1 on the first set of tyres right up until the halfway point of the session. Unfortunately, we mis-timed our run on the second set of tyres meaning I wasn’t able to complete a lap late in the session when the track was fastest. We ended up P9 which was disappointing. However, we knew we had a fast car to work with and from that point on it was just a matter of chipping away in the races to get back to the front by the end of the weekend.

In Race 1 we had a fantastic start jumping two cars into Turn 1. We managed to avoid the usual Turn 1 chaos and after lap one the top 7 pulled a gap on the rest of the field. All 7 of us had identical pace so it was difficult to move forward in the pack without others making mistakes, and at this level it is becoming very rare!! We held station for the majority of the race and crossed the line P7.

In Race 2 I had another great start, working my way up to 5th in the early phase of the race. Unfortunately a battle with another competitor saw me drop a wheel off the road and get freight trained by group of drivers. This dropped me back to P10 and in the middle of a feisty pack. We ended up crossing the line in P9 but moved to P8 due to a penalty for one of the cars in front.

In Race 3 my primary goal was to get back into the top 5 and minimise the points damage for the weekend. However, just like most of our plans you make in Motorsport, they are very quickly thrown out of the door once the race commences!! Race 3 was quite a tough race, we had another great start and put lots of pressure on the guys in front but on lap 3 contact with another driver ended with me facing the wrong way and drop to P31!! Fortunately, my car wasn’t damaged and a safety car period regrouped the pack. Once the safety car pulled into the pits I quickly made my way back through the field and made my way back to P16 after just one lap. At this point there was another incident between other drivers at Turn 1 and we ended up finishing the race behind the safety car.

At the end of a weekend like this it’s hard to find the positives. However, a lot of things did go my way and we still finished every race and salvaged enough points to stay in the lead of the Outright Championship and Michelin Junior Championship. This weekend has added fuel to my desire to succeed and I am doing everything in my power to ensure we arrive at Sandown in three weeks time with my best foot forward.

Cheers,
Harri

STATS

Qualifying - 9th
Race 1 - 7th
Race 2 - 8th
Race 3 - 16th

After Round 5 of 8

Championship Position - 1st
Michelin Junior Championship Pos. - 1st

Pictures from the weekend in Gallery.