A CLEAN SWEEP of all three races at Symmons Plains Raceway has delivered Matt Kingsley the lead in the 2010 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia presented by Mission Foods series.

Photo: Matt Kingsley dominated at Symmons Plains Raceway to jump to the lead of the series standings.
Image: Nathan Wong / GT3 Cup Challenge

Photo: Yuey Tan finished sixth, with his two-car McElrea Motorsport team winning the best presented award.
Image: Nathan Wong / GT3 Cup Challenge

Wins in two races on Sunday, including a crushing 20-plus second exercise in domination in the 40-lap finale, has sent the Queenslander to the top of the charts despite believing after the first round that the title was out of his grasp.

Kingsley’s Action Tyres & More 996 GT3 Cup car was badly damaged in a first-lap crash at Bathurst but the efforts at the weekend delivered sweet redemption for the reigning titlist.

Roger Lago took his Falcon Property 997 GT3 Cup car to second overall for the round whilst Sven Burchartz finished third. Jeff Bobik (Creative Colour Type 997 GT3 Cup car) and Gary Dann completed the top five.

“After the crash at Bathurst we thought the season was over,” Kingsley admitted.

“Fortunately I have an amazing group of dedicated people around me who have put this car back together probably better than it was before the crash. It’s really good to be able to reward them with a win this weekend.

“It’s pretty competitive out there so it was important for us to get out in front and set the pace. It’s been a great weekend and our year is back on track.”

Lago progressed through the field, starting the first race sixth before finishes of fifth, third and second secured him a career-best weekend result since joining the outright fight.

Burchartz spent most of his weekend fighting with the similar Type 997 GT3 Cup car of Jeff Bobik, though it was the 2008 series winner who had the more consistent weekend and scored the podium spot by just a handful of points.

With Bobik fourth, series newcomer Gary Dann finished fifth overall – including a strong third in the 40-lap feature – to set himself up well for the next round of the series, to be held on the South Australian’s home turf at Mallala. Yuey Tan scored his career best GT3 Cup Challenge Australia result with sixth overall in a competitive first-up effort from his McElrea squad as a two-car team – Danny Chu joining the outfit from this round onwards.

The well presented outfit won the Xtreme Industries Best Presented award to cap off a solid event.

Terry Knight ran second in the early stages of the feature race and finished an impressive fifth to secure himself seventh overall and second in the 996 Class ‘race within a race’.

Launceston driver Bill Fulton scored eighth, ahead of Jan Jinadasa and Melbournian John Morriss, who was tenth.

There were several notable efforts throughout the field, Ray Angus’ team deserving a special mention for their efforts to change a flywheel on the Queenslander’s Type-996 GT3 Cup car on Saturday – the effort enough to allow Angus to clinch third in class for the round.

Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia presented by Mission Foods series' competitors enjoyed the weekend at Symmons Plains, the 15-car field producing entertaining racing for the Tamanian fans.

Teams and drivers will receive a well-earned break prior to round three, to be held at South Australia’s Mallala Raceway on May 29-30.

Series Standings - After 2 of 6 rounds.

1. Matt Kingsley 90
2. Roger Lago 70
3. Sven Burchartz 63
4. Jeff Bobik 59
5. Terry Knight 51
6. Yuey Tan 50
7. Gary Dann 48
8. Bill Fulton 38
9. John Trende 29
10. John Morriss 28

2010 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia presented by Mission Foods

Round 1 – Bathurst, NSW, February 12 – 13
Round 2 – Symmons Plains, TAS, April 10 – 11
Round 3 – Mallala, SA, May 29 – 30
Round 4 – Morgan Park, QLD, August 14 – 15
Round 5 - Eastern Creek, NSW, September 11-12
Round 6 – Sandown, VIC, October 22 - 23

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