REFRESHED and ready race following a lengthy break, the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship returns to the Northern Territory this weekend for Round 3 of an increasingly unpredictable championship battle.

This year marks the 11th visit to the betr Darwin Triple Crown for Australia’s top one-make championship, with the series having first visited in its inaugural season in 2003.

21 years later it returns during a record-breaking streak that has seen eight different round winners from the past eight rounds – with nine from nine a real possibility.

24 cars will tackle the three races this weekend at Hidden Valley with the returning David Wall – the 2017 Carrera Cup Champion – back on track for the first time this year.

Wall will surely be a contender amidst the Equity-One Professional class contenders, though it is hard to determine one that couldn’t potentially win this weekend such is the depth of talent this year.

Former champion Harri Jones – the last man other than Dale Wood to claim a race win at Hidden Valley – leads the championship by 10 points over New Zealand winner David Russell, who ended a 59-round streak to claim his maiden round win last time out.

Jackson Walls sits third in the championship with his season highlighted by a series of remarkable recovery drives, the Sydneysider having passed 57 cars in just over 80 laps of racing so far this year.

The trio represents three different teams (Porsche Centre Melbourne Motorsport, TekworkX Motorsport and McElrea Racing) however will all be keeping an eye on the Earl Bamber Motorsport, Connected Spaces-supported Porsche entry of Dale Wood.

Wood heads to Darwin fourth in the championship but does so as the most in-form driver in the Top End thanks to an imposing track record at Hidden Valley in recent history.

As well as having claimed the last two rounds (2022 and 2023) at the circuit, wood finished runner-up in 2019 and has finished on the podium in three of his four starts there.

Wood has won the last five straight and six of the last eight races in Darwin, with 40% of his total Carrera Cup win tally coming in the Territory.

He has also scored the TAG Heuer pole position there in 2022 and 2023 and currently holds both the qualifying and race lap records at Hidden Valley as well.

Working against Wood will be the fact that only three times in the 21-year history of Porsche Carrera Cup Australia has a driver ever claimed three consecutive round wins at the same circuit – Porsche hall-of-famers Jim Richards and Craig Baird (twice) the only ones to achieve the feat.

Others to watch in New Zealand include Porsche Michelin Juniors Ryder Quinn – who is a stout fifth in the stansings -and Nash Morris, fresh from his first race and round podium finishes at the most recent round in New Zealand.

Morris will sport a stunning indigenous livery on his Scott Taylor Motorsport Porsche, fully embracing the Supercars Championship indigenous round theme this weekend.

Dylan O’Keeffe heads to Darwin as one of two former Hidden Valley round winners on the entry list, his success coming in 2018.

The RAM Motorsport / Dexion driver is one of only two this year– along with Harri Jones – to have finished every one of the six races held to date in the top 10, showing the volatility of the field this year.

In SP Tools Pro Am, the field will be trying to stop the dominant Adrian Flack who has claimed the last five straight races this season.

Flack won the season opener in Melbourne and then dominated in proceedings last time out to build a strong early lead in his title defense.

Sam Shahin is set to make his second start of the year, following his entry into two rounds of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup Championship, at Imola and Monaco, respectively while Matt Belford, Marc Cini and Rodney Jane make welcome returns after missing the New Zealand round.

The Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship hits the Hidden Valley circuit this Friday for a pair of practice sessions, prior to qualifying on Saturday morning and Race 1 later that afternoon.

Two further races complete the weekend on Sunday, with every session from Practice 2 broadcast live on Fox Sports 506 and Kayo Sports in Australia, and Sky Sports in NZ.

Races 1 and 3 will also be shown live on free-to-air on the Seven Network around Australia.

THE WINNERS:

Townsville, 2023 - Alex Davison (Scott Taylor Motorsport)
The Bend, 2023 - Callum Hedge (Team Porsche NZ / EBM)
Sandown, 2023 - Dylan O'Keeffe (GWR / RAM Motorsport)
Bathurst, 2023 - Harry King (EMA Motorsport)
Gold Coast, 2023 - Bayley Hall (McElrea Racing)
Adelaide, 2023 - Dale Wood (Earl Bamber Motorsport)
Albert Park, 2024 - Harri Jones (Porsche Centre Melbourne Motorsport)
Taupo, 2024 - David Russell (TekworkX Motorsport)