Marco Giltrap has started the 2023 Porsche Sprint Challenge in astonishing fashion, claiming two race victories and finishing second in the other to take round honours at Phillip Island.
Giltrap wasn’t the only Kiwi in form at the event with Ronan Murphy joining him on the podium in Race 3.
Zac Stichbury also announced himself on the scene to take sixth in the first race and fourth in the second and third.
From the get-go it was Giltrap who looked likely, a blistering start from fourth on the grid seeing him pip the front three to lead into Turn 1, never looking back and going on to take victory over Aron Shields by nearly 3 seconds.
Stichbury had qualified well for the race but found himself losing places early, eventually finding his rhythm and challenging for third in the dying stages. Running wide at Siberia cost his chances of a podium and saw him drop two spots to finish sixth.
Murphy also drove well, from seventh on the grid, and moved through traffic to finish fifth.
Race 2 was a role reversal of the previous start, Shields getting off to a flyer from second on the grid- which was set from Race 1’s results- to lead Giltrap into the first turn. Shields was put under pressure by the never-relenting Kiwi but kept his nerve to take the flag by less than a second.
Stichbury was much better off the line this time around, quickly making up places and coming home in fourth, one spot to the better of Murphy who ran a quiet but consistent race.
A 25 Lap feature- the Jim Richards Enduro- concluded the weekend at Phillip Island, the grid set based on points accrued in the previous two races.
It was Shields who led Giltrap off the line once again with Stichbury also battling hard in a pack which included Murphy.
It didn’t take long for the front Team Porsche New Zealand racer to take the lead before slowly beginning to build. As lapped traffic came into play Giltrap did briefly surrender top spot to Harrison Goodman but he returned to the front a few laps later to take victory.
“I’ve finished with the round win and a couple of race wins – can’t get a much better stuff than that,” Giltrap said following the Jim Richards Enduro victory.
“We’re pretty sure we had some pretty good pace coming into the weekend. There’s still some room for improvement as always, but that third race was pretty hectic. I mean, it was a long one.
“There’s a bit of tyre conservation and then the traffic got involved and we sort of slipped back to second.
“Ultimately, we knew we had the pace towards the end of the race and we kept strong and ultimately, we came on top.”
Behind, Stichbury had worked his way forward and was contesting for second with multiple others but overcooked it on a left-hander, going off-track and through the grass to re-emerge in 12th.
Murphy was one of the benefactors of this and working forward as the laps counted down. He aptly finished second to make it a Kiwi 1-2 with Giltrap taking honours.
Stichbury’s drive after his off-road venture should also be lauded, the young Kiwi charging through the pack and finishing fourth and less than one second off making it an all Kiwi podium.
As Kiwi race fans it appears we’re all in for a good year with all three youngsters performing to a high level and emerging as title contenders.
The Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia campaign continues ion April 28-30 at the Queensland raceway.
