RETURNING to the category in which he made his name, Marcos Flack has claimed Round 4 of the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia Series on the streets of Townsville in a wild and crazy Sunday of action. 

Flack triumphed in the sole sprint race held on the final day of the NTI Townsville 500, taking advantage of high drama from key contenders at the front of the field to not only grab the race win, but the round as well.

Flack claimed the round win over Lockie Bloxsom and Kamal Mrad in the Pro Class, while Jacque Jarjo took the Pro-Am battle and Daniel Quimby Class B.

The race was notable for the non-finishes from both championship leader Jake Santalucia and his then-nearest rival Tom Bewley, with their zero scores and big results from Bloxsom and points for Ryan Casha ensuring the championship is now closer than ever ahead of the final two rounds.

Sunday’s action started in dramatic fashion with the Jim Richards Enduro Trophy Race making it just a few hundred metres beyond the race start before an enormous accident saw the race stopped.

Contact at turn one between Lachy Harburg and Eric Constantinidis saw the former spun across the circuit and into the path of much of the field, 10 cars involved in a substantial accident that saw the race suspended and ultimately declared a non-event.

That left a reduced field ready for the finale’ which turned into a wild sprint for the sole points on Sunday.

Santalucia made the early headway and grabbed the race lead with Bewley and Ryan Casha behind in the early stages.

The leader then ran slightly wide at the turn 11 hairpin, opening the door for Bewley to pass on the entry to turn 13 – and Casha to sneak past on the exit.

With Santalucia watching on and now in third, that pair then battled down towards turn two, Casha making contact with Bewley as he defended in the braking zone on the run into turn two.

The Team Porsche NZ entry was tipped into the wall and ultimately parked up on the run to turn three with damage to the front of the car and the steering; bringing out the Safety Car and bunching up the field.

Casha was penalised with a drive through penalty for his role in the incident, serving that once racing had resumed.

The drama wasn’t over, however, with Santalucia’s Sonic entry noticeably trailing smoke and leaking fluid once the race resumed.

It would ultimately boil over – literally – when the #777 car slowed on the run to turn two; closing up the pack and allowing Flack to take the lead while at the same time Mrad passed teammate Bloxsom for second position on the road.

They would end the race in that order with Flack taking his first Sprint Challenge race victory in style.

Behind them there was plenty of action with a stirring drive from Tyler Greenbury seeing him charge from 17th position to fifth place in his rebuilt car – the Edge Designer Homes entry one of the 10 cars involved in the race two accident.

Daniel Quimby finished an outstanding 6th outright in his class B entry while Jacque Jarjo fended off Ramu Farrell for the second time in as many races to take the Pro-Am win, sealing the deal in the round result as well.

With four rounds complete, Jake Santalucia continues to lead the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia standings though his lead has been significantly reduced this weekend.

Provisionally, Lachlan Bloxsom now moves to second in points with Ryan Casha third and Tom Bewley fourth – though just 50 points cover the top four contenders heading into the final two rounds of the championship.

The championship resumes in mid-September at Shell V-Power Motorsport Park at The Bend for Round 5.