JAKE SANTALUCIA has starred on his way to securing a handy lead in the battle for the 2026 Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia Series with just one round remaining. 

The teenager from Melbourne turned a 16-point lead coming into the weekend into one that nears 90 points with three races to go at Sandown in November after two victories on Sunday at Shell V-Power Motorsport Park at The Bend, delivering him back-to-back round victories in the process.

An imperious Ramu Farrell claimed the Pro-Am class victory over Lachy Harburg and Andrew Georgiadis to put one hand on that class trophy, while Daniel Quimby again impressed in his class B machine.

However it was Santalucia’s starring Saturday – some of it aided by drama for others but mostly via raw speed and race craft – that saw him claim both Sunday races and entrench both he and his five-time title winning team, Sonic Motor Racing, on top of the standings with a round to go.

He finished second on the road to Lockie Bloxsom in race two however the former was later penalised 10 seconds for his role in contact with Ryan Casha at turn six, relegating him down the order and delivering Santalucia maximum points.

Race one Pro winner Tom Bewley was another to falter, gearshift selection issues seeing him drop from an early lead to an eventful seventh-placed finish, while Pro-Am winner Farrell crossed the line second on the road and James Lodge third.

Santalucia’s success in the Jim Richards Enduro Trophy race that completed the weekend was hard-won, escaping to an early lead before having to withstand several Safety Car restarts before he could claim the win.

The Sonic racer led early but then was jumped by James Lodge on lap six, who went on to lead the next three laps.

A further restart saw Santalucia attack and Lodge hung out wide, losing several spots and dropping as low as fifth while the #777 car returned to the race lead. The battle then waged behind as Bewley and Casha made contact at turn six, delaying both and allowing Kamal Mrad and Lodge to pass them both – only doing favours for the race and series leader out front.

They crossed the line in that order, Farrell finishing fourth outright and claiming the Pro-Am race win in the enduro encounter.

Bloxsom, meanwhile, was working his way through the field after a lap one off at the high-speed right hander sequence around the back of The Bend’s International layout. Contact then subsequently saw him out with broken suspension, scoring zero points.

The results saw Santalucia claiming his second round win of the season and becoming the first repeat round winner of the year to date.

James Lodge and Kamal Mrad completed the Pro class podium – Bewley later penalised 30 seconds for his clash with Casha during the race – while Farrell’s Pro-am sweep saw him win the round over Harburg – who scored a pair of seconds on Sunday – and Andrew Georgiadis.

With one round remaining, Santalucia takes a (provisional) 81-point lead into the Sprint Challenge season finale’ at Sandown Raceway in Melbourne this November.

Ryan Casha now sits in second overall with Bloxsom third (26 behind the DNA Motorsport driver) and Bewley fourth, a further four points back.

181 points will be up for grabs at the season finale’, to be held at the Sandown 500 Supercars event in November.