Following two big rounds in the north of Australia, Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup teams now travel south to country town of Tailem Bend in South Australia for round 5 of the 2022 Championship.

Hosting races 393 to 395 in Championship history, the 4.95km circuit at The Bend Motorsport Park is characterised by fast, flowing turns that are tailored for GT style cars, such as the new 992 generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

The Bend, run by Morris Pro-Am driver, Sam Shahin, became only the 17th venue to host a round of Carrera Cup Australia since the series inception in 2002, and is the third fastest venue on the 2022 calendar, with its average lap speed of 161kph eclipsed only by Albert Park (174kph) and Bathurst (178kph).

Following a massive start-line accident in the Saturday’s torrential conditions, the 2021 Sunday races at The Bend witnessed two incredible battles between Cameron Hill and Harri Jones, with the 2021 Pro Champion Hill claiming both the 20-lap Enduro and 11-lap finale by near identical race margins 0.23s.

Prior to that, Sonic Motor Racing drivers had dominated both the inaugural 2018 round (Michael Almond) and 2019 events (Jordan Love). Love won all three races from pole position with an average winning margin of more than 5.5 seconds.

But it has been 12 consecutive rounds since the Sonic Motor Racing Team’s last round win, edging ever closer to their longest ‘dry spell’ of 13 rounds in the 2005-06 season. The Victorian Championship winning team has been in position to win twice this year though, both with Aaron Love (Australian Grand Prix and Townsville) and will be hungry to amend that stat heading to South Australia round.

In their way, stands McElrea Racing’s Harri Jones, whose Championship lead was reduced to 39-points by David Wall in Round 4, with the Paynter Dixon driver being the only driver in the field to have finished in the top 10 in every race so far this year. Both drivers finished on The Bend’s podium last year.

The team that has made the biggest progression in the last six races however, is Earl Bamber Motorsport Team, thanks to the efforts of Dale Wood and Callum Hedge. After a shaky start to the season, Hedge took his first Carrera Cup Australia round win in Townsville and has progressed from 10th, 9th, 8th, 3rd, 2nd to first in the last six races.

Together with Hedge, Round 4 also saw the likes of Jackson Walls, Bayley Hall, Brad Shiels and Angelo Mouzouris all set their personal best Carrera Cup Australia performances.

In Morris Pro-Am, Geoff Emery was unstoppable and became the season’s first repeat winner in the class, elevating him into the Championship lead by 17 points from three-time class champion, Stephen Grove.

With Grove overseas for the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa this weekend, the battle for class victory and podium positions will be hotly contested affair. As only eight points currently separate Dean Cook, Sam Shahin, Liam Talbot and Rodney Jane for positions 3 to 6 in the Championship.

Following two practice sessions on Friday 29 July, Saturday plays host to qualifying and the first Sprint race in the mid-afternoon. A 40-minute, 20 lap Endurance race takes place on Sunday morning before the final Sprint race after midday. All three races will be broadcast live on both Fox Sports and Kayo Sports throughout the weekend.

Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia, Round 5, The Bend
Broadcast Schedule:

Friday, 29 July
10:50-11:15 Practice 1
13:25-13:50 Practice 2

Saturday, 30 July
10:30-10:50 Qualifying
15:05-15:30 Race 1 (11 laps)

Sunday, 31 July
10:20-11:00 Race 2 (20 laps)
14:25-14:50 (11 laps)

Entry List:
# Name Surname Class Sponsor
5 Ryan Suhle Pro SP Tools / EBM
6 Angelo Mouzouris Pro Sonic / 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
14 Matthew Belford Pro-Am ID Land / Porsche Centre Melbourne
17 Callum Hedge Pro Team Porsche NZ / 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 Indiran Padayachee Pro-Am 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 EMA Motorsport
76 Christian Pancione Pro VCM Performance / HP Tuners
77 Rodney Jane Pro-Am Sonic / Bob Jane T Marts
86 Drew Hall Pro-Am Wall Racing
88 Dylan O'Keeffe Pro Dexion / RAM Motorsport
100 Dale Wood Pro Timken Racing
222 Scott Taylor Pro-Am Scott Taylor Motorsport
333 Brad Shiels Pro Royal Purple Racing
777 Simon Fallon Pro Bob Jane T Marts / Bremtech
TBC TBC TBC Pro TBC