OSCAR TARGETT has survived one of the most unpredictable Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia rounds in history to claim Round 2 of the championship at The Bend. 

The Grove Racing / EBM driver claimed a dramatic race three victory to win the round overall over Brock Gilchrist and Aron Shields – but the story was in no way as simple as the results indicate.

Home-town hero Pan Boyaci claimed the win in Pro-Am over Danny Stutterd and Lachy Harburg, while Jacque Jarjo won the Class B battle at the South Australian venue.

Targett’s pathway to victory was far from easy after he was penalised 10 seconds following race two earlier on Sunday morning.

That result dropped him from second on the road to 14th position which is where he started race three later in the afternoon.

Brock Gilchrist won the Enduro race on Sunday morning with Jake Santalucia and Hamish Fitzsimmons – who charged from 24th on the grid following his challenging race one on Saturday – to third position.

Targett was one of several to storm through the field in race three, which saw Gilchrist lead early. The Grove racer charged from 14th to seventh on the opening lap and had climbed as high as fourth by lap eight.

A storming Fitzsimmons passed Gilchrist for the lead on lap seven, however was carrying a five-second penalty for overlapping on a Safety Car restart, meaning he had to pull away in front in order to remain on the podium.

Gilchrist had settled into second position and was being chased by Kiwi compatriot Clay Osborne, when the pair made contact at turn six on the ninth lap of the race – causing Gilchrist to slip down the order and Osborne out of the race with left front damage on his McElrea entry.

That elevated Targett to second position, the Michelin Junior ensuring he finished well within striking distance of Fitzsimmons, ensuring he would claim the race victory once the five second penalty was applied. The TekworkX driver slipped to third at the line, with Aron Shields’ promoted to second.

The contact between Gilchrist and Osborne was more critical for the former, who finished eighth which was not enough to retain the points lead for the round overall – the Team Porsche NZ driver ultimately finishing second overall behind Targett.

Provisionally, Targett now leads the Sprint Challenge standings over Gilchrist and Aron Shields, Round 1 winner Caleb Sumich’s solid weekend ensuring he remains fourth and Fitzsimmons fifth.

The Pro-Am weekend was just as unpredictable as the outright fight with pacesetter Ramu Farrell enduring a challenging weekend that saw him fail to finish both races on Sunday.

The beneficiary of all the chaos was local racer Pan Boyaci, who claimed his first round win overall ahead of the ever-consistent Danny Stutterd and Lachy Harburg.

An outstanding weekend from Jacque Jarjo saw him claim the Class B round win with a pair of race wins on Sunday.