CARRERA CUP champion Alessandro Ghiretti has charged to the front to claim his first win in Australia’s Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup championship on Saturday night at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.

The EMA Motorsport driver starred in a Saturday twilight fight, working his way through the leading group to take the race three victory and end his Aussie debut on a high.

Meanwhile, Jackson Walls did enough to claim the Equity-One Professional class Round victory, the second of his career and his second at Albert Park.

Adrian Flack won the Pro-Am battle on Saturday while Rodney Jane raced his way to an extended championship lead by claiming his second successive round win in Carrera Cup’s race within a race.

The race was a thriller as O’Keeffe got the jump on Walls to lead the field into turn one as the sun set on a warm Melbourne evening.

The pair battled out front while Jones slotted into third position and Ghiretti fourth in the early running, but he soon picked his way forward and engaged in a thrilling fight for the lead with O’Keeffe.

The Dexion driver was able to fend off the Italian star for several laps of hard racing before he slipped past between turns 11 and 12 to take a lead he’d never lose.

O’Keeffe consolidated in second position while Walls was third, doing enough to take the round victory for the second time in his career.

There was late drama behind as a locked brake from a then fourth-placed Harri Jones saw him fall into the clutches of Bayley Hall, who was a hard charger late in the second EMA Motorsport car. The pair boxed on through the final corners with Jones running wide and dropping several spots; Hall also losing time but still crossing the line in front of his nearest title rival.

In between the leaders and them was Marcos Flack, who enjoyed his strongest Carrera Cup weekend in twelve months, and David Russell who charged home in his TekworkX Racing entry to record his best finish of the weekend.

With Jones’ seventh, Dale Wood, Clay Osborne and Hamish Fitzsimmons rounded out the top-10.

The battle for Pro-Am was similarly competitive with Matt Belford looking to make it six winners from six races this season as he led the race mid way through.

He, however, had to deal with a resurgent Adrian Flack who had charged his way through the field following a challenging weekend for the EBM driver.

Flack slipped past after a hard and clean fight between the pair late in the race, while Shahin also passed the ID_Land car late to grab second, Belford finishing third.

Through it all, however, was Mr. Consistency Rodney Jane who claimed his second round win on the trot to extend his championship lead heading to the next round in Darwin.