Kiwis Brock Gilchrist and Ayrton Hodson finished on the podium in the opening Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia race at Queensland Raceway on Friday evening.
Championship leader Oscar Targett overcame a poor start to storm to a comprehensive 5.5-second victory ahead of title rival Gilchrist, while Hodson turned a front-row start into his maiden podium in third.
Clay Osborne was pipped on the line by Ryan Suhle and settled for fifth.
A wheelspin from Oscar Targett off the start saw Hodson jump to the front and lead the opening laps, with Gilchrist settling into third.
On Lap 3, Targett hunted down Hodson, and the Australian pulled into a lead he would not relinquish. That left Hodson exposed to the chasing pack, but the McElrea Racing rookie defended well, holding his place until Lap 14 when Gilchrist was finally able to pass after several failed attempts.
Over the following laps, the Team Porsche New Zealand/EBM driver pulled nearly two seconds clear of the early leader, but up the road, Targett was out of reach, leaving the Kiwi to settle for second.
Hodson held on for his maiden podium in third, ahead of a fast-finishing Suhle and Osborne, who battled furiously for fourth for most of the race.
Suhle looked to have the position locked up on Lap 10, but Osborne attacked late. The two ran side-by-side to the chequered flag, with the Australian taking the spot over the Kiwi by just 0.0073 seconds.
Hamish Fitzsimmons, who sits third in the championship, recovered from a poor qualifying effort for a hard-fought sixth, minimising his losses to his title rivals.
Targetts’s victory extends his points advantage over Gilchrist to 32, with the trailing pack now over 100 points adrift of the leader.
The Porsche Sprint Challenge returns at 1.05 pm on Saturday for Race 2, ahead of the Jim Richards Enduro race at 4.45 pm.
Both races can be watched live on a free livestream.
Header Image: Porsche Motorsport Australia
