The 132nd round in Carrera Cup Australia history sees the country’s top Porsche teams travel to the tropical climate of Darwin in the Northern Territory for Round 3 of the 2022 season, following a forced two-season hiatus due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.

In the nine occasions that Carrera Cup Australia has visited the Hidden Valley Circuit, Alex Davison remains the only driver to have won multiple rounds over the years, having taken victory in both in 2004 and 2016.

Of the current Pro field, Harri Jones will start the weekend as the race favorite, carrying strong form and momentum into the third round following both the opening round at the Melbourne Grand Prix and his round victory in Winton.

His McElrea Racing teammates (Christian Pancione; Bayley Hall, Tim Miles and Jackson Walls) are also likely to feature in both their respective Pro and Morris Pro Am classes, as the Queensland outfit is one of the only teams to have tested at the Hidden Valley Circuit in recent weeks.

The experience and consistency of David Wall is always a podium factor in the Pro class and the 2017 Carrera Cup Champion will celebrate his 200th race start in Race 2 at Hidden Valley. He becomes only the second driver in Championship history to achieve this milestone (Marc Cini is the first and only driver to do so thus far) moving clear of Craig Baird for the second most round starts (Wall now has 67) and race starts in Winton last time out.

The recent pace of David Russell will also make his EMA Motorsport-prepared Dayco Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entry one to watch, together with the Timken liveried Type 992 of Dale Wood. Hidden Valley was the scene of Wood’s most recent race win in 2019.

Dylan O’Keeffe’s form in Qualifying and all three Winton races will be another factor in the Pro battle, with the Victorian claiming the 2018 round win in Darwin without winning a race.

The last time Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia visited Hidden Valley in 2019, three drivers won the three races that weekend, with the ever-present Michael Almond eventually taking the round honors.

In the Morris Pro-Am battle, Geoff Emery remains the man to beat on pure pace and form, but the Championship remains wide open with the likes of Liam Talbot, Matthew Belford, Stephen Grove, Rodney Jane and Sam Shahin all featuring in the hunt for podium placings.

Incredibly, 16 drivers have filled the 21 available podium positions in the Morris Pro-Am class since the category’s first event there in 2004, this year should be no different. Hidden Valley is also a popular hunting ground for Porsche enthusiast, Scott Taylor, recording his best outright round result (14th) and race result (11th) in Darwin in 2019.

Following two practice sessions on Friday 17 June, Saturday’s qualifying and all three races will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo Sports throughout the weekend.

Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia, Round 3, Darwin
Broadcast Schedule:

Friday, 17 June
1010 - 1035 Practice 1
1330 - 1355 Practice 2

Saturday, 18 June
1010 - 1030 Qualifying
1410 - 1435 Race 1 (18 laps)

Sunday, 19 June
0915 - 0940 Race 2 (18 laps)
1310 - 1335 Race 3 (18 laps)

Entry List:
# Name Surname Class Sponsor
4 Stephen Grove Pro-Am Grove Racing
5 Ryan Suhle Pro SP Tools / EBM
6 Angelo Mouzouris Pro Sonic Motor Racing / PitBox
7 Tim Miles Pro-Am Miles Advisory Partners / N2C
8 Nick McBride Pro Porsche Centre Melbourne
9 Marc Cini Pro-Am Hallmarc
11 Jackson Walls Pro Objective Racing
12 Harri Jones Pro Hastings Deering / Mackellar Group
13 Sam Shahin Pro-Am The Bend Motorsport Park / HTFU
14 Matthew Belford Pro-Am ID Land / Porsche Centre Melbourne
17 Callum Hedge Pro Team Porsche New Zealand / EBM
20 Adrian Flack Pro-Am AGAS National
22 Dean Cook Pro-Am Zonzo Racing
25 Michael Almond Pro The PSA Group
27 Liam Talbot Pro-Am Wash It / Paynter Dixon
28 Bayley Hall Pro Hall Finance & Insurance
38 David Wall Pro Monochrome / Paynter Dixon
45 Duvashen Padayachee Pro Rentcorp Hyundai Forklifts
48 Geoff Emery Pro-Am Force Accessories / MJR
53 Luke Youlden Pro TekworkX / Hire A Hubby
72 Max Vidau Pro TekworkX / Tyrepower
74 David Russell Pro Dayco / EMA Motorsport
76 Christian Pancione Pro VCM Performance / HP Tuners
77 Rodney Jane Pro-Am Sonic / Bob Jane T Marts
88 Dylan O'Keeffe Pro Dexion / RAM Motorsport
100 Dale Wood Pro Timken Racing
101 Tony Quinn Pro-Am Local Legends
222 Scott Taylor Pro-Am Scott Taylor Motorsport
333 Brad Shiels Pro Royal Purple Racing
777 Simon Fallon Pro Bob Jane T Marts / Bremtech