Callum Hedge has continued his march towards Porsche Carrera Cup Australia round honours at The Bend by winning this afternoon’s Enduro Cup race in lights-to-flag fashion. Championship rival Jackson Walls was second home, while Simon Fallon rounded out the podium.
Hedge got away well off pole, as did his main championship rival next to him. The two ran side-by-side into Turn 1, with the Kiwi taking the lead on the inside line.
Fabian Coulthard was an unlucky casualty on Lap 1, spinning in front of a tight mid-field who parted ways and amazingly avoided the stranded Porsche. The Kiwi returned to running at the rear of the field.
The Team Porsche New Zealand driver extended his lead over the opening laps, pulling to over a second clear by the end of Lap 2.
This lead continued to grow and was 2.1 seconds mid-race, with the Kiwi managing his tyres well. Walls, in turn, had pulled 1.3 seconds clear of third-placed Simon Fallon, who had Max Vidau on his tail.
Walls closed the gap in the second half of proceedings and sat just over a second shy of the Hedge at the end of Lap 15 of 20. The Kiwi responded to his rival’s pace to manage the gap, while Fallon was also making ground behind in third and pulling away from Christian Pancione, who had taken fourth off Vidau.
In the pack, Chris Pither had made up good ground and had worked his way to 11th by the penultimate lap, while Coulthard was also making ground on the pack following his early spin and was sitting 21st.
Walls ate some further time into Hedge’s lead over the final lap, but the Kiwi held firm to take the chequered flag by under one second. Fallon rounded out the podium, a further seven-tenths back, setting the fastest lap along the way.
Pither ended up 11th, and Coulthard overtook Courtney Prince on the final lap to finish 20th.
The Porsche Carrera Cup Australia returns for one final race at The Bend, which begins at 5.05 pm.
