Jaxon Evans kicked his Porsche Supercup season off with a solid drive to finish second at Monaco.
For the first time in Supercup history, the demanding Monaco street circuit played host to the season-opener; and in typical Monaco fashion a massive crash punctuated the opening lap.
Evans had qualified second the day before and held onto his starting position on the run into turn one.
However, as the field powered up towards Beau Rivage for the first of 17 times, midfield runner Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer was spun into the inside barrier.
The Frenchman bounced back across the circuit and into oncoming traffic, triggering a multi-car pileup.
With the circuit essentially blocked, the race was red-flagged.
A nifty clean-up from the trackside marshals meant most of the race could be run, albeit now reduced to 15 laps.
A safety car restart gave Evans his second opportunity to pounce for the lead.
But a strong restart from polesitter Larry ten Voorde meant the Kiwi was powerless, and he fell back several car lengths.
It wasn’t long before the safety car interrupted the race again. This time, Porsche rookie Michael Cress took an excessive amount of kerb at turn one and fired into the outside barrier.
With another restarting looming, Evans had one final real opportunity to snatch the race lead.
Yet ten Voorde remained composed and expertly resisted Evans’ attack.
The two shared fastest laps over the race, with Evans eventually coming home 2.3s behind ten Voorde.
The result is Evans’ first Monaco podium in Supercup and a stout start to his championship ambitions.
Evans’ teammate Dorian Boccolacci rounded out the podium, finishing three seconds behind the New Zealander.
The second round of the Porsche Supercup will be at the Spielberg circuit in Austria.
Evans has fond memories of his time at the circuit last year as it was the place of his maiden series win.
That event will be held on June 25-27.