A Flying start to to the 2026 Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia season has been topped, narrowly, by series rookie Lincoln Taylor.
The teenage graduate of the one-make Toyota GR Cup series topped the 25-strong field across a pair of 30-minute practice sessions today at a cold and blustery Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit, as the field readies for three races this weekend to kick off the new year.
Taylor, driving for TekworkX, banked a 1m30.8199s flyer late in practice two to top fellow Porsche first-timer Kobi Williams by 0.04s today.
Williams, driving for Tyler Greenbury’s team, was quick all day and was only bumped to second late in the session by Taylor’s final-lap flyter.
Third was Kamal Mrad, the first driver returning to the championship this season having made his debut in 2025.
He was fractionally quicker than McElrea teammate and good friend Daniel Quimby as the teenage Class B Champion from last year makes the step up to the outright category for the first time this year.
Jones’ Motorsport’s Hunter Robb was next, having earlier topped the slower first session earlier in the morning.
Making his debut on Aussie shores, JMR junior development driver Hayden Haikal was sixth aboard his Sonic entry – the Malaysian leading the Sonic trio that includes Xavier Avramidis (7th) and Ruari Avern, in 10th.
Between them were the TFH Racing brothers of Diesel and Josh Thomas, while the returning Lincoln Evans was just outside the 10.
In Pro-Am, the returning Anthony Gilbertson was the man to beat as he returns to one-make Porsche racing (and motorsport in general) following a six year stint on the sidelines.
The Queenslander was quickest in both sessions on Friday and headed former Pro-Am champion Lachy Harburg in each session.
Tim Farrell (practice one) and Eric Constantinidis (FP2) were third in the two sessions, respectively.
The two sessions were relatively trouble free save for an unfortunate incident for Porsche rookie, Brandon Madden.
The Harvey’s Towing Service car found the tyres heavily at turn one in the second session, bringing out the red flag. While the driver climbed from the car, the crash ended his debut weekend on Friday.
Attention turns to Qualifying on Saturday morning, followed by the first of three races later in the afternoon.
All three races and the morning’s qualifying session will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 506 and Kayo Sports this weekend.
