After a great qualifying session for the Kiwi trio of Clay Osborne, Marco Giltrap, and Tom Bewley, it was set up to be a great Porsche Carrera Cup race, with the trend leaning to conserving tyres and holding track position.
Immediately at the start, Osborne had wheelspin but was able to defend position into the long left-hander at Turn 1. Giltrap was jumped by Harri Jones, and Bewley was able to get past Dylan O’Keefe with a move around the outside.
As drivers settled in, Osborne was able to run away to hold a second lead over Love, with Giltrap and Bewley in fourth and fifth. Championship rookie Bewley held the fastest lap in the early stages, putting pressure on Giltrap.
Osborne took the fastest lap soon after, with Aaron Love and Jones not letting Osborne get out of their sights. The gap started to float around a second and a half, with the Kiwi looking confident out front.
Meanwhile, the gap between Giltrap and Bewley widened slightly, giving the #66 car some breathing room.
While looking comfortable out front, Osborne slowly started to stretch the gap to Love, extending it to 1.7 seconds. At the same time, Giltrap sat 1.5 seconds behind Jones, who was starting to catch Love, playing into the Kiwi’s hands.
Bewley looked comfortable to keep controlling fifth place, and sat a second behind Giltrap and a second ahead of Dale Wood.
As the race stretched on, Osborne started to look more and more comfortable as he controlled the field all the way home, marking his second victory in two weekends in a dominant fashion. He was followed home by his TekWorx teammate Love, with Jones finishing in third.
Giltrap was able to lead Bewley home in fourth and fifth, making it three Kiwi’s in the top 5.
For the cherry on top, Osborne took the fastest lap with his remarkable drive, and now leads the Pro championship by thirteen points.
Race 2 of the weekend will kick off at 2:45pm tomorrow.
