After a close set of practice sessions in Darwin, Clay Osborne, Marco Giltrap, and rookie Tom Bewley have all put in a great performance in Porsche Carrera Cup qualifying.
Osborne headed to the top early with a 1.07.308, before being pipped as the track warmed up. Giltrap featured with a 1.07.217, before Bewley slotted into second place soon after.
With cooler ambient temperatures, the track started to get faster, and with fifteen minutes to go drivers came into the lane for new rubber. At the halfway mark, Bewley sat in third, just ahead of Giltrap, with Osborne in seventh.
As all the drivers headed back out on track, Giltrap jumped straight to the top with a 1.06.5, with Osborne sitting behind, a tenth off Giltrap. Osborne was soon jumped by Harri Jones, and was setting up to be a thrilling finish.
Late in the session, Osborne set a 1.06.40 to just pip Giltrap on a 1.06.43. Meanwhile, Bewley sat down the order in thirteenth, in a very close session. Aaron Love split the Kiwi front row with a lap barely ahead of Giltrap, leaving the Kiwis in first and third with three minutes to go.
In the last moments, Bewley was able to slot into sixth place, meaning all three Kiwis featured in the top six in a very hotly contested session.
Osborne’s 1.06.40 was enough to seal his second pole position, marginally ahead of Love and Giltrap, with Bewley starting on the third row.
The three young Kiwis will take to the track at 3:25pm for their first race of the weekend.
