Callum Hedge has finished the latest round of the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia in eighth after horrendous conditions plagued the series over the three-race weekend.
With just one of the three races completed, a difficult qualifying session saw Hedge have to work through the field in the first race. That too was shortened, whilst races two and three didn’t end in a result due to red flags from bad weather and other delays.
That meant the series results went off Race 1’s results, Aaron Love the winner over Max Vidau and Dylan O’Keefe.
An early red flag in qualifying created a mixed grid for that sole race, the session resuming with just 10 minutes remaining after Max Vidau became stuck in gravel at Hell’s Corner.
Hedge punched in a 2min 8.11sec flyer following the restart, only enough to see him sit twelfth. The time remaining meant a second quick lap was unable to be completed in time, leaving the Kiwi out of position on the grid, based on the eighth fastest time he set in the earlier practice.
It was Aaron Love who qualified on pole for the event, a 2min 05.35sec lap enough for the quickest one-make Porsche lap in Bathurst history, smashing the previous record held by New Zealander Jaxon Evans by nearly one second.
Hedge took to social media to share of his thoughts on qualifying at its conclusion
“Awkward quali session with the red flag,” he said.
“Had one flying lap to try figure it out, and ended up 12th. 3 races across the weekend, so we’ll move forward.”
Wet weather hung around into Friday, the first race starting under safety car conditions, three laps completed before the light went green.
Love went about pulling away and had built an 8 second lead by mid-race until a safety car intervention brought the field back together. That intervention was the result of a stranded Marc Cini at The Chase.
Hedge had continued to work his way forward and was in the top 10 by this point.
Following the restart, Love again went about building a lead until the conclusion of the race, brought about after only 12 of the 15 laps scheduled due to time limitations. He took line honours by nearly four seconds ahead of Max Vidau.
Hedge had continued his march forward and finished eighth.
“That was wild,” the 18-year-old said after the race.
“Was able to stay clean and move forward to 8th. Not enough racing laps to have a real go, but we’ll try again tomorrow.”
Tomorrow never came, the worst of the weekends weather hitting the circuit in the early afternoon. This saw Race 2 cancelled without a lap being completed.
The mornings weather on Sunday was clearing, however track repairs delayed proceedings due to an incident in an earlier race.
Love again looked to have the pace after yet another safety car restart, the field tip-toeing over the water-logged circuit.
A slow first lap resulted in two cars going off at The Chase, one becoming stranded, officials calling for the safety car once again.
The time constraints again brought about an early finish, the distance not enough to see championship points awarded.
As a result, the Race 1 standings determined the round overall, Hedge eighth overall.
“Bizzare weekend at the Mountain,” he said on Facebook.
“Very limited racing laps made it impossible to progress through the field. Had speed in the rain and made overtakes on every green lap.
“Loved being back at this epic track, can’t wait for Gold Coast in a couple weeks!”
Tim Miles was the other New Zealander in action, in the Pro-AM class he finished seventh.
The Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup next returns to action in support of the Gold Coast 500 over the weekend of October 28-30.
This will see out the 2022 season with Hedge looking to improve on his seventh in the championship standings.
