Earl Bamber Motorsport has left Winton with its head held high, after a string of strong results at Winton Raceway. Dale Wood emerged with the best run of results of the three drivers, finishing 5th, 4th and 3rd across the three races. Wood, driving his TIMKEN supported Porsche 992 improved in every session, and has emerged as a title contender following a consistent display at the rural Victorian venue. He know sits 6th in the championship. Wood said that he was pleased with the progress made across the weekend.

“It was a pretty good weekend for myself, we progressively got better and better each session. Qualifying wasn’t quite what we wanted, then we had a 5th, a 4th and a 3rd, so it was a really solid round. Lots of learning from the weekend. Winton is a difficult track to pass on, but certainly some good stuff to take into Round 3 at Darwin.”

For Team Porsche New Zealand driver, Callum Hedge, it was a weekend that could have been. Hedge finished both practice sessions inside the top 2. Starting Race 1 from the front row, Callum was pushed wide at Turn 1, dropping to an eventually 16th, that would make the remaining 2 races a challenge. The impressive 18 year old fought back strong in Races 2 and 3, finishing 10th and 9th. Callum was one of few drivers to gain positions throughout the races, and prove that passing is possible at Winton.

Hedge rued the first race incident, but was pleased with the pace from his Team Porsche New Zealand Porsche.

“It was definitely a challenging weekend. We showed some really good speed in the car, and I was quickest in almost every session. I qualified on the front row, then got ran off in Race 1. That sent us to the back, and it was a fight to move forward. Finished 10th and 9th in the final two races. It was disappointing to have been run off, I know we had the pace to win if we are at the front. Positive is, the car was super mega fast, just super tough to pass around Winton. I’m learning heaps, and keen for Round 3 in Darwin.”

Ryan Suhle started the weekend with a strong qualifying in 5th. In Race 1, he gained one position to finish 4th, in a tight opening encounter. Driving the SP Tools backed Porsche, Suhle’s weekend hit rough road when he was involved in an incident throughout Race 2, finishing 16th. In Race 3, Suhle had it all in front of him, but couldn’t make major headway on the tightest track on the Carrera Cup calendar.

Suhle was pleased with his fourth place finish, and hopes to use his mid-field experience to make gains moving forward.

“Overall, it was a challenging weekend here in Winton. I had a great first race, finishing 4th. The next two were a little more challenging, and I got caught up in some incidents in Race 2, finishing 16th. In Race 3, we made a bit of a bad call with the tyre pressure strategy. 4th was a great highlight, but we will apply the things we learnt fighting back in the pack moving into the next round.”

The next round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia will be held at Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin, on June 17-19.