HAT TRICK FOR DAVISON TO OPEN 2004 CARRERA CUP CAMPAIGN
21/3/2004 16:12 (Press Release) -
Alex Davison completed a trifecta of race victories in round one of the Australian Carrera Cup at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide today, with the Melbourne 24-year-old putting in a near-faultless 12-lap display.
Davison (Greg Murphy Racing / Glenfords Tool Centre) won race three around the 3.22km Adelaide street circuit by close to three seconds from reigning series champion Jim Richards (Jim Richards Racing / OAMPS Insurance Brokers) and rising star Fabian Coulthard (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun).
After powering off the startline, Davison maintained the ascendancy throughout the race setting a new Porsche GT3 911 lap record of 1:25.3801 in the process. It was also his sixth consecutive Carrera Cup championship win, after claiming the three races at the final round at Eastern Creek last year.
It was one, two, three for Davison, Richards and Coulthard respectively in each of the three races in Adelaide, suggesting that the all-Porsche series will be a full year arm-wrestle between the dynamic trio.
“I couldn’t be happier with the start to the season – three from three here after two non-championship wins at Albert Park,” said Davison.
“It took me a while to get comfortable with the bumps on this street circuit, but today was pretty consistent over the full 12 laps.”
Richards was peppering Davison for the lead when on lap five, he got a bit unstuck on a turn losing vital ground to his younger rival. The seven-time Bathurst 1000 champion could not close the gap in time to challenge again, and had to settle for second and runner-up for the round.
“It’s great for me and great for Carrera Cup to have these younger guys taking race wins and round wins,” said Richards.
“I’m even more determined now to respond to the challenge, but on the other hand, I hope some more guys can come up and give it a shake as well.”
It was a great day for New Zealand with Melbourne-based Kiwi Fabian Coulthard standing on the podium in his first official Carrera Cup round.
“This is fantastic,” said Coulthard. “This weekend was a big learning experience and that’s how we treated it. I’ll keep on working away through the season and you never know what results may come your way.”
While Coulthard was the brightest light out of the rookies this weekend, another young Kiwi driver James Cressey also impressed with a fourth placing in today’s race and for the round.
The now Gold Coast-based Cressey, 20, had to contend with fellow Team VIP Petfoods drivers Klark Quinn and Tony Quinn for race position the entire race and showed promising speed which augurs well for the next round in Eastern Creek in a fortnight.
Junior Quinn placed fifth ahead of father Tony who managed to hold off a vigorous challenge from New Zealand’s Ross Rutherford (International Motorsport NZ / Woodstock Bourbon) in the latter stages of the race.
It wasn’t a good story for last year’s series third placegetter Peter Fitzgerald who punctured a tyre from track debris on lap nine forcing him to pit for a new one. At the time, Fitzgerald was fourth but his pit stop sent him to the rear of the field.
The Carrera Cup teams and drivers are now preparing for round two at Eastern Creek International Raceway in Sydney from April 2 to 4.
‘Trackside’ on Network Ten will telecast round one (Clipsal 500) of the Carrera Cup next Sunday March 28 at 2pm (check local guides).
The Carrera Cup is the most successful ‘one make’ championship in the world with close-to-identical Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars built by Porsche’ racing arm in Weissach, Germany racing in Australia in 2004. All cars have a top speed in excess of 300 kilometres per hour with a 400-horsepower, 6 cylinder Boxer engine which revs to 8000 RPM.
RESULTS
Race 3, Sunday March 21
1. Alex Davison (Greg Murphy Racing / Glenfords Tool Centre) 12 laps
2. Jim Richards (Jim Richards Racing / OAMPS Insurance Brokers) 12 laps
3. Fabian Coulthard (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 12 laps
4. James Cressey (Team VIP Petfoods) 12 laps
5. Klark Quinn (Team VIP Petfoods) 12 laps
6. Tony Quinn (Team VIP Petfoods) 12 laps
7. Ross Rutherford (International Motorsport NZ / Woodstock Bourbon) 12 laps
8. Dean Grant (Becks Racing) 12 laps
9. Peter Hill (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 12 laps
10. Stephen Borness (Celerity Racing / Logiadd) 12 laps
11. Roger Oakeshott (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 12 laps
12. Peter Bradbury (Team MPS Security) 12 laps
13. Marc Cini (Adamco) 12 laps
14. Ash Samadi (Globe Racing) 12 laps
15. Peter Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald Racing / Acer, SEW Eurodrive) 11 laps
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1. Alex Davison (Greg Murphy Racing / Glenfords Tool Centre) 180
2. Jim Richards (Jim Richards Racing / OAMPS Insurance Brokers) 162
3. Fabian Coulthard (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 144
4. James Cressey (Team VIP Petfoods) 105
5. Peter Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald Racing / Acer, SEW Eurodrive) 90
6. Dean Grant (Becks Racing) 87
7. Tony Quinn (Team VIP Petfoods) 81
8. Klark Quinn (Team VIP Petfoods) 63
9. Ross Rutherford (International Motorsport NZ / Woodstock Bourbon) 63
10. Peter Hill (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 48
11. Stephen Borness (Celerity Racing / Logiadd) 48
12. Peter Bradbury (Team MPS Security) 45
13. Roger Oakeshott (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 36
14. Rodney Jane (Rodney Jane Racing / Bob Jane T-Marts) 30
15. Marc Cini (Adamco) 27
16. Ash Samadi (Globe Racing) 18
Release Date: 21/03/2004
Carrera Cup
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