The Kiwis had a tough weekend in the third round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia, fighting for positions at Darwins Hidden Valley Raceway. Some great passes and an unfortunate penalty gave Marco Giltrap and Clay Osborne some heroic and heartbreaking moments.
Qualifying:
During the 30-minute qualifying session, drivers had to set their two fastest lap times, which determined their starting grid placements for the first two races.
As they warmed up, drivers took turns taking the provisional pole position and top places from each other.
When the drivers warmed up and started getting faster lap times, Osborne struggled to make it into the top ten, sitting between 10th and 15th for most of the first 10 minutes. Giltrap was able to get some faster times, holding onto fourth at one point.
Osborne made it back up to tenth while Giltrap sat in seventh after 12 minutes when a competitor ran wide onto the grass and leaked fluid, starting a fire on the side of the track.
A red flag was called while the fire crew attempted to stop the fire, which had been spreading even further. The red flag lasted several minutes, only leaving enough time for a couple of fast laps at the end of the session by the time the fire was safely out.
During those final laps of Qualifying, the Kiwis improved their times but weren’t able to make it back up the leaderboard, instead dropping positions for the final standings.
Giltrap ended up in 12th, with a best time of 1:07.1160, just .0015s behind Hamish Fitzsimmons in 11th place. His second lap time improved in comparison to the rest of the grid, making him start race two one position higher in 11th.
Finishing in 14th, Osborne wasn’t far behind, with his fastest lap time of 1:05.1328 and a second lap time that had him start in the same position for race 2.
Both Kiwi drivers were just over half a second slower than Dylan O’Keeffe, who secured pole position, showing the close margins between the whole field.
Race 1:
Both Kiwi drivers were slow off the starting line, each losing two places and falling back. Giltrap was now in Osborne’s starting position of 14th, while he was now in 16th.
Determined to make the places back, Giltrap passed Marcus Flack and Caleb Sumich to regain 12th position. Osborne was also able to pass Sumich and one other driver to take back his original position of 14th.
Osborne increased his lead above Sumich to 5 seconds, holding his position to keep and finish in 14th place.
Giltrap was able to climb one more place and improve on his starting position, finishing one spot higher in 11th place., He also stayed just ahead of his EBM Motorsports teammate Oscar Targett, who had started in 15th position and finished in 12th. Clay Osborne made it back up to his starting position and finished the first race in 14th.
At the front of the grid, a tight race between Dylan O’Keeffe and Harri Jones saw a lot of close moments, with O’Keeffe ultimately staying ahead after starting in pole position and earning his first win since 2023.
Race 2:
The Enduro Cup race brought excitement as multiple drivers were taken off the track. Giltrap and Osborne both stayed in position off the start before some big incidents took out cars ahead of them, helping the Kiwis gain positions.
David Russell collided with Dale Wood, hitting the back of his car and causing both of them to turn off to the left of the track and into the grass. Wood then got knocked again, spinning back across the track in front of the other racers. Luckily, no one hit him, but it ended Wood’s race.
Smart passes and exceptional pace saw Osborne improve six places to eighth before he accidentally went deep at turn 1 of lap 2, came off the track, and only made it back into 17th.
Quickly passing the three pro-am class drivers, Osborne got back up to his starting position of 14th. He was over 3 seconds behind Sumich in 13th, but he had great pace and quickly brought that gap down to two-tenths behind his teammate Targett.
Giltrap stayed close behind him for 10 minutes but wasn’t able to find a place to pass and eventually dropped back to make the gap between them a second.
A pass on Sumich and Hamish Fitzsimmons running off the track got Osborne into 12th place and behind Lockie Bloxsom. While he was initially 5 seconds behind, Osborne set his fastest laps of the race, managing to catch him quickly and set up a pass.
While going up the inside, Bloxsom got sent off the track after getting tapped in the rear, which landed Osborne a 15-second penalty.
His fast pace saw him take 10th position and end up right behind Giltrap. The two Kiwis stayed in that order, and Giltrap finished ninth in the race, while Osborne’s penalty brought him down to 12th.
Race 3:
For Race 3, the drivers started in the positions that they finished in during Race 2, putting the Kiwis in their best starting positions of the weekend.
An unfortunate incident saw Dale Wood again getting turned off the track, this time right at turn one, sending him directly to the back of the field.
Osborne stayed close to Tom McLennan before finding the right spot to make a clean pass and take 11th position. He found himself one place behind his fellow Kiwi driver, Giltrap. He was able to catch right up to the car and bring the gap down to around 0.2 seconds consistently.
Giltrap held on tight to his position in ninth, blocking Osborne and not letting him find a place to pass. The gap eventually increased back up to a second after a couple of laps.
The race at the front was tight, but locked gears caused Jackson Walls to spin off the track. He rejoined the track next to Giltrap, and the two of them fought for position side by side for multiple turns until Walls found a chance to pull ahead.
Super2 Driver Jackson Walls was in second place before he spun off the track and rejoined right behind Giltrap. The remainder of the race saw them battling for position, with Walls passing at one point just to get passed back right before the end. After this close fight, Giltrap ended the race in ninth place.
Osborne remained in position and finished the final race in 11th, his best placement of the weekend.
O’Keeffe took home both of the last two races, taking home the Darwin Triple Crown weekend with every pole position and win.
Both Kiwis remain in the top 10 in the championship standings, with Marco Giltrap in eighth and Clay Osborne in tenth place.
The next Porsche Carrera Cup Australia race weekend is at Queensland Raceway in Ipswich from August 8th to 10th.
Header Image: Marco Giltrap
