The supports action at the Darwin Triple Crown has wrapped up with Dale Wood waltzing to a faultless Carrera Cup campaign, but the heat was on in Aussie Racing Cars and Superbikes.
Porsche Carrera Cup
Dale Wood celebrated his 100-race Porsche Carrera Cup milestone by stitching together the perfect weekend at Darwin.
After cruising to a crushing win in Saturday’s opener, Wood remained an untouchable figure, leading every lap of both Sunday encounters, while Callum Hedge jumped ahead of Jackson Walls, who extended his lead in the championship.
Although the Brad Jones Racing Supercars co-driver controlled the field, it masked an extremely eventful second race of the weekend.
Hedge got a lightning jump from the second row to fly past and challenge Wood for the lead around the outside of Turn 1.
Callum Hedge got his elbows out to snatch second in Darwin. Image: Mark Horsburgh
Further back the Local Legends of Ryder Quinn car was spun, while there was some fierce racing down pit straight between Simon Fallon and Chris Pither.
Turn 5 became a hot spot with Matthew Belford’s right front tyre exploding and leaving debris on corner entry.
Soon after Fabian Coulthard made a big lunge on Nick McBride and the end result saw the #8 Team MPC car spinning from eighth to 19th.
The other BWT car of Courtney Prince also found trouble at the same corner, making side to side contact which fired Quinn into the wall.
The drama did not stop there with Pither being turned at the first corner, but after 16 wild laps, Wood held off Hedge to go back to back.
Rodney Jane broke a drought by taking Pro-Am honours for the first time since Bathurst 2008.
Initially Hedge looked to have given Wood a run for his money by getting the better getaway at the start of race 3.
The young Team Porsche New Zealand driver went for it around the outside, but Wood held firm and managed to get the better exit to overcome the odds and steal the lead.
Dale Wood (centre) celebrates his Carrera Cup clean sweep with runner up Callum Hedge (left) and third place finisher Jackson Walls (right). Image: mark Horsburgh
After winning that battle, Wood was never headed, opening up a second advantage and managing the gap from there.
Jackson Walls also settled into second, but the battle for the minors was intense.
The likes of Simon Fallon, Thomas Maxwell, David Russell, Fabian Coulthard and Dylan O’Keeffe were embroiled in a physical battle.
Fallon and Russell were the major winners having made up three and four positions respectively as the biggest movers in the pack.
The race was a quiet affair until lap 16 when Jones and Belford both speared off at Turn 11, with the former’s crash handing Pro-Am honours to Adrian Flack.
Up front Wood at his dominant best, taking a 1s win over Hedge as Walls joined him on the podium, who extended his championship lead as Max Vidau battled to 17th.
The next Carrera Cup round is the Townsville 500 on July 7-9.
Aussie Racing Cars
Cody Brewczynski held off the CoolDrive cars to secure round honours at Darwin.
Cody Brewczynski used his fighting skills to claim round honours in the Aussie Racing Cars at Darwin.
The fourth and final race of the weekend at Hidden Valley Raceway was another dramatic and unpredictable affair as Brewczynski held off the CoolDrive cars of Josh Anderson and Reece Chapman.
The eventual round winner got the upper hand at the start as Anderson displaced Heinrich amid the gaggle of cars at the front of the field.
Brewczynski maintained his lead despite Anderson applying the blowtorch, but his race was interrupted by the Safety Car.
Yellows were deployed after Cody Mckay, Brendon Tucker, Scott O’Keefe and Matt Gooding got tangled up at Turn 1 and Grant and Craig Thompson spun at Turn 5.
The stoppage set up a thrilling one-lap dash to the chequered and Brewczynski and Chapman went side by side and the latter slipped to third behind Anderson.
But there was no stopping Brewczynski, who scored back to back wins to secure a second career round win.
Aussie Racing Cars fire back up at Townsville on July 7-9.
Australian Superbikes
Troy Herfoss held off Mike Jones in a titanic Superbikes battle. Image: Australian SuperBikes
Troy Herfoss claimed the fourth round of the Australian Superbikes Championship after prevailing in a thrilling battle with Mike Jones at Hidden Valley.
Both Sunday races were nail biters as Herfoss and Jones went toe to toe duelling for glory.
The heat was well and truly on when Superbikes hit the track first thing Sunday morning with a multi-bike fight for the lead, which was ultimately decided by less than two tenths.
After Josh Waters rode to a comfortable win on Saturday, he looked set to do the same in race 2.
The Ducati V4R rider got a strong start and led Herfoss into Turn 1.
But Waters’ lead would only last the one lap as a mistake at the start of the second tour proved extremely costly.
After hitting a bump, the #21 Ducati speared off into the paddock and slipped from first all the way to 13th.
This left Herfoss and Jones to scrap it out for first which is exactly what they did.
Jones made the first move, pouncing by using the slipstream down the straight to dive down the inside of Turn 1.
However, the #1 Yamaha only led for two laps before Herfoss regained control.
Jones reclaimed P1 on Lap 11, but once again his time at the top only lasted a handful of laps.
A moment missing the apex at the hairpin up in the valley proved costly, opening the door for Herfoss, who did not let the lead go across the final three laps.
Jones never gave up and crossed the line within two tenths of a second with Glenn Allerton in third, while Waters recovered to fifth.
There was more action at the front of the field in the 16-lap finale.
It was five wide going into Turn 1 with Arthur Sissis flying around the outside, but Herfoss took P1.
Allerton sat second, but only stayed at the top of the leaderboard for four corners as he applied too much front brake and crashed at the right-hander.
This allowed Herfoss to open up a 0.6s lead over Jones, while Waters snatched third from Sissis.
But within two laps Jones was all over the back wheel of Herfoss and another tense scrap emerged as Cru Halliday flew into the fence after making front to rear contact with fellow Yamaha rider Sissis on the exit of Turn 1.
After many close calls down the main straight, Jones made his move at Turn 5 to take the lead, but Herfoss immediately responded at the following hairpin.
As they started the 16th and final lap, just one tenth of a second was the difference.
Jones got a run on the exit of Turn 5, but Herfoss held strong to take another victory in a “confidence boosting” ride at the front of the field.
The next ASBK round is at Morgan Park on July 14-16.
2023 Darwin Triple Crown
Race 15 (35 laps): 15.55-16.53
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