RAMU FARRELL has claimed his third Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia outright race win, sweeping to a comfortable victory in Race One at The Bend in South Australia.
On a cool Friday afternoon, Farrell made a blinding start from second on the grid and build a comfortable margin on the opening lap, never headed en route to another outright win, while also extending his lead in the Pro-Am class.
In the Pro class, Tom Bewley converted outright pole to second on the road at the line – though scores maximum points in the ongoing intense fight for the 2025 championship.
He was trailed home closely by series leader Jake Santalucia and Lockie Bloxsom, who rebounded from a slow start to work his way to fourth outright at the line, and third in class.
The 30-minute race saw multiple battles throughout the field though Farrell saw few of them – at one point building a nearly five-second margin out front.
Bewley fended off an early challenge from James Lodge to hold on to second, the latter – who had run second on the opening lap – slipping back after being caught on the wrong side of the road in an intense fight for the Pro Class win, eventually finishing ninth.
Bewley asserted himself in the Pro lead for much of the race before Santalucia and later Bloxsom each closed on the Team Porsche NZ car, Bloxsom having crossed the line seventh at the end of lap one before picking his way forward with a series of key overtakes.
Ryan Casha finished fifth with Hunter Robb sixth, his best race result since Queensland Raceway. Daniel Quimby completed a day of outstanding performances to finish seventh and claim the Class B win, while Kamal Mrad, Lodge and Tyler Greenbury enjoyed a combative scrap to complete the 10.
Behind the dominant Farrell, Jacque Jarjo took second in Pro-Am, less than a second in front of Andrew Georgiadis with Lachy Harburg keeping them both in sight in fourth place.
Early contact ruled out Eric Constantinidis and debutant Diesel Thomas after just three laps, while Ben Taylor was out of the race before the race commenced with a technical issue on his Auticon Porsche.
The race 1 results help to further close the intense battle for the Pro class in the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia Series, just 43 now points splitting leader Jake Santalucia and fourth-placed Bewley – who was the big winner today, trailing the Sonic racer by 50 points coming into the weekend.
Bloxsom now sits 23 behind his Sonic rival while Ryan Casha grips onto third place by just two points ahead of tomorrow’s two races.
Race 2 will be held first thing at The Bend, while the third and final race – the Jim Richards Enduro trophy encounter – will complete the weekend and will be broadcast live on 7plus.
