Tom McLennan has broken through for his maiden Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge podium finish during Round 2 of the series at Tasmania’s Symmons Plains Raceway.
In what is only his fifth full round behind the wheel of the Porsche, McLennan raced consistently at the 2.4km circuit, eventually taking a fighting third place in the final 40lap endurance race.
His weekend started steadily, qualifying 10th in his first-ever race meeting at the Tasmanian circuit.
In the first race, McLennan raced well to be seventh, but it could have been even better. The Queenslander looked to be the beneficiary of others incidents, but was then caught up in the mess when a rival ran him off the road. Considering the chaos, seventh was a positive result.
In Race 2, McLennan was again dicing inside the top five until he was run out of road while up the inside of eventual final race winner Ronan Murphy. The squeeze saw McLennan spin down to the back, ultimately making his way back to 14th place in the competitive field.
In the longer 40 lap finale, McLennan used his smarts and raced consistency to cross the line third – a career-best result in the one-make Porsche league.
The result vaults McLennan up to fifth in the Pro class standings ahead of the third round of the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge at Sydney Motorsport Park in July.
QUOTES
Tom McLennan
#81 Macpro Racing/McElrea Racing “We qualified in 10th and drove to sixth in Race 1 until we got caught out in a late race crash where we should have zigged instead of zagged and we finished seventh in class, which isn’t a bad resultm” McLennan said. “In Race 2 we were very eager at the start and went for a move at Turn 6, but I ended up high on the kerb, which resulted in a spin due to rear tyre temp. I fell to the back and drove to 14th. “The 40-lap enduro format for Race 3, I started 14th to end up third and I was really happy with that job. “I can’t thank the team enough, Robbo, Tim Shaw, Andy McElrea, my mechanic Toby and my dad for helping me out this weekend. I’m hoping the results from Race 3 continue into the next round in Sydney.”