Darwin sweep for Wood in milestone Carrera Cup weekend
Darwin, Northern Territory. DALE WOOD has swept the weekend to take a commanding round win in Round 2 of the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship, dominating proceedings in the Top End at Hidden Valley Raceway near Darwin.
After taking pole and race one on Saturday, Wood won both of Sunday's races to claim his fourth career round victory - and his second straight in Darwin.
He completed his emphatic performance with a lights-to-flag win in race three, his milestone 100th in Carrera Cup competition.
To make matters even better, the Victorian also departs Hidden Valley with a new category lap record just to complete the sweep.
Wood's pathway to victory came with a convincing drive in race two, leading from pole and pulling away from early pursuer Jackson Walls.
He then survived a mid-race restart to lead Callum Hedge home, with Walls third.
In Race three, Wood again led from pole however had to fend off a challenge from Hedge, who sent it around the outside of turn one at the start and very nearly wrestled the lead away from the Shannons / EBM Porsche driven by his teammate.
Once he had seen off the the threat from his young teammate, Wood was able to ease away in front to secure what was his 14th career race win - and seal the round result.
Walls and Hedge ended tied on points for second and third, with the latter securing the higher position by virtue of finishing second in the final race. The Kiwi was also the top Michelin Junior driver for the weekend and second in the Equity One Pro Class.
Walls, meanwhile, now moves into a clear - if narrow - championship lead heading into the third round in Townsville in three weeks time.
Territorian Thomas Maxwell enjoyed his best ever weekend and finished fourth outright in Darwin, while David Wall finished fifth overall.
Both of Sunday's races were ultra competitive affairs with plenty of wild moments and ultra-competitive racing throughout.
Big movers included Simon Fallon, who charged his way from outside the top-10 in qualifying through to fourth position by the end of race three.
David Russell was another big mover on Sunday, charging through the field to 6th position.
It was a challenging weekend for Max Vidau, who came into the weekend co-leading the championship following a strong weekend at Albert Park. Chris Pither, Alex Davison and Bayley Hall were others - among many - to endure challenging weekends in the Top End.
A totally unpredictable weekend in the SP Tools Pro-Am class went the way of Dexion / GWR driver Dean Cook - who won the round despite not claiming a race win.
It was the Victorian drivers' third career win and came in a weekend where three different drivers claimed the three races.
Sam Shahin claimed Race 1 on Saturday, while Rodney Jane claimed the second race in his Bob Jane T-Marts Sonic Motor Racing entry.
It was Jane's first Pro-Am win since Bathurst, 2008.
The Victorian was then leading the final race until he came off the road with two laps to go, spinning out at turn eleven and handing the lead to Tim Miles.
Miles was then pounced on by Adrian Flack at turn one on the start of the final lap, the latter ultimately grabbing the race win.
Ultimately, Cook won the round without winning a race, with Shahin second and Miles on the podium in third for the first time since 2001.
Provisionally, Jackson Walls now has a five-point championship lead over Dale Wood, with Callum Hedge in third position a further 11 points back.
After a long break since the opening round of the championship at the Australian Grand Prix in March, the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship gets busy from here on in, with the next event in just three weeks on the streets of Townsville.
DALE WOOD - Equity One Pro class winner
"I don't know what it is about racing here, but I'll take it! We're in a good place at the moment. Last year, we had a totally different car to what we had this year but we've learnt a lot. We have a pretty good package going on in the team, I was loving flying the new colours in Shannons and all my supporters.
"It's just unbelievable. To go and do that, to get pole, three race wins and a lap record I'll call that a good weekend. It's bloody awesome, bring on the next one."
DEAN COOK - SP Tools Pro-Am winner
"I think I only knew (about being the round winner) on the last lap, the boys gave me a call and I thought I'd better bring it home.
"I wasn't there until Rodney might've made some errors and I jumped out, but only two or three laps to go. It's been very nice to spray the champagne here in Darwin."