New Zealand’s Ayrton Hodson has qualified on the front row for the opening Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia race at Queensland Raceway, pipping compatriot Brock Gilchrist for second in the 30-minute session.
Championship leader Oscar Targett stormed to the pole, putting over four-tenths on the field with a late 1:09.4293.
Hodson sat in the top five entering the final minutes, behind Gilchrist and Ryan Suhle, but jumped to second with a late 1:09.8737 effort.
Targett, who sat on the provisional pole for most of the session, improved moments before the Kiwi McElrea Racing driver to put 0.4444s on the field.
Gilchrist remained in pit lane during the closing minutes, but his earlier 1:09.9271 was just 0.0534s shy of the front row.
The Team Porsche New Zealand/EBM driver will line up third, directly behind Targett, who is only 26 points ahead in the standings.
Suhle, meanwhile, was just 0.0005 seconds off the 2022/23 Toyota 86 Championship winner’s time and will start fourth.
Clay Osborne lines up fifth, seeing all three Kiwis in the field qualify within the top five.
Hamish Fitzsimmons, who sits third in the championship, over 70 points behind the top two, is left with work to do after only qualifying tenth, presenting the opportunity for Hodson and Osborne to make inroads into the lead group in the championship standings.
The first Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia race at Queensland Raceway is timed for 25 minutes and begins at 7.00 pm NZST this evening.
Race 2 follows at 1.05 pm on Saturday, ahead of the 45-minute Jim Richards Enduro race at 4.45 pm that afternoon.
Races 2 & 3 can be watched on a free live stream, while this evening’s opener can be followed by live timing.
Header Image: Ayrton Hodson Racing
