After narrowly avoiding a massive pile-up in Saturday’s race, Kiwi drivers Marco Giltrap and Clay Osborne battled hard to secure top-10 finishes in both races.
Qualifying:
Marcos Flack set the fastest time in qualifying with a 1:10.847 to earn his first career pole position for race one.
Giltrap was close behind with a 1:11.089, earning 4th on the grid. However, a slower second lap saw him drop to 10th for the start of Race 2.
Osborne also posted strong times, qualifying 6th for Race 1 with a 1:11.204 and 11th for Race 2.
Race 1:
Bayley Hall got off to a slow start, holding up other drivers and allowing Marco Giltrap to take him off the line and slot into 3rd, immediately putting him in podium contention.
Clay Osborne followed closely on the right, passing Caleb Sumich and Hall to sit just behind Giltrap in 4th.
As the Kiwi duo held their ground near the front, disaster erupted at the back of the field on lap 2.
Lockie Bloxsom clipped the tyre wall with his right rear through the chicanes, triggering an 8-car pile-up and instantly bringing out the red flag. Bloxsom spun after being hit hard by Sumich, crashing into the front of Hamish Fitzsimmons and destroying both cars’ fronts.
The sudden stop sent Oscar Targett slamming into Sumich and then into Tom McLennan, while cars behind continued colliding, tearing off parts and losing control. Brett Boulton, unable to stop in time, hit the concrete wall at full speed before being launched airborne after ramming other cars.
With so many cars involved, officials called the race, as the cleanup would take longer than the remaining laps allowed.
Race 2:
The massive crash during Saturday’s race meant six cars were unable to take the track on Sunday, reducing the field from 24 to just 18 racers.
Giltrap got squeezed behind other cars in the opening corners, dropping behind Osborne, who was already pushing to gain positions. After several attempts to overtake, Osborne moved inside Lockie Bloxsom on lap 2 to secure another place.
Bloxsom, who had already fallen four spots, was fortunate to be racing at all, with his team having worked on the car until 4am.
Giltrap then closed in behind Bloxsom, hunting for an opportunity to pass while keeping the gap behind him under half a second. Meanwhile, Osborne pulled away, creating a 2.5-second gap to Bloxsom and closing in on Dylan O’Keeffe in 8th.
Giltrap eventually found a way past Bloxsom, but chaos struck as O’Keeffe collided with the rear of Dale Wood entering the chicane, breaking his steering arm and forcing both off the main track.
Osborne capitalised on the incident, getting right behind Wood, while O’Keeffe limped back to the pits. On the next lap, Osborne moved into 7th, diving inside Wood around a corner and leaving himself just over two seconds to chase Marcus Amand.
While defending from Harri Jones, Giltrap’s brakes locked through the chicanes, allowing Jones to slip inside over the next two corners and push Giltrap back to 10th.
With 10 minutes remaining, O’Keeffe returned to the track in time to officially classify and collect some championship points. The closing stages saw further chaos as closely bunched cars lapped Brett Boulton, resulting in multiple collisions. Glen Wood damaged his right front hitting Boulton, dropping back to 10th.
Despite the mayhem, Osborne had a strong recovery in Race 2, climbing five places to finish 6th, while Giltrap improved one spot to 9th.
Race 3:
With only one race completed, the drivers lined up for Race 3 based on the finishing order from the earlier race.
Osborne had a slow start and was overtaken off the line by Harri Jones, while Giltrap held firm in 9th. Giltrap fell a second behind Dale Wood but extended his lead over Bloxsom to 2.5 seconds, comfortably securing a spot in the top 10.
Angelo Mouzouris made an aggressive move down the inside of Marcus Amand, but a car issue dropped him two positions, just ahead of Osborne. Mouzouris soon recovered to pass Jones, creating an opening for Osborne to attempt a move, though the Kiwi couldn’t get far enough ahead to make it stick.
Osborne finished 7th, unable to gain any further positions, while Giltrap crossed the line two spots behind in 9th, holding a 4-second cushion over 10th.
Bayley Hall claimed victory in both races and took the round overall.
The excitement now builds toward the final round of Carrera Cup Australia in Adelaide from November 27–30.
Header Image: V8 Sleuth
