David Russell has battled his way to a strong points gathering weekend in round three of the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Championship for TekworkX Motorsport.

After a pair of positive practice sessions on Friday, Russell was consistently inside the top five throughout Saturday morning’s 30-minute qualifying session. As times continued to improve over the session Russell fired in two fast laps to ensure a fourth place start for race one, and fifth on the grid for race two.

The opening race of the weekend got off to a rapid start, as Russell jumped to third with a great launch. After attacking for second Russell was backed up to the car behind and returned to fourth place, where he would look after his tyres through to the end of the race.

Overtaking opportunities were hard to come by once again in the weekend’s Enduro Cup race with Russell battling amongst the fight for the podium places. A small lockup sent Russell off the road, dropping him to 14th at the chequered flag.

Combined points from the first two races set the grid for race three, with Russell lining up in eighth. A superb start allowed Russell to vault up two spots to sixth, where he settled in to secure another strong result in the points battle.

The Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Championship hits the track next at the Sydney SuperNight from July 19-21.

TekworkX Motorsport will tackle the streets of Townsville before then, with Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge and the TGRA 86 Series from July 5-7.

Quotes:
David Russell, Hire A Hubby Porsche
“We rolled out of the truck were very fast in practice, so that gave us a good handle on things,” said Russell.

“Didn’t quite go to plan in qualifying but we were still reasonably happy. We just weren’t quite able to have the car the way we wanted it and maximise the lap. Finished fourth in race one and I suppose it’s a good thing as a team to be a little bit disappointed with that, which comes off the back of our own success.

“I just made a little mistake in race two, my eyes looked to the slower car on the inside just to make sure I’d clear him and be able to attack the corner how I wanted. At that speed it meant I misjudged the braking by a very small amount, and it was enough to spear us off. We were able to consolidate a bit from there and get back to the pack.

“Knew we had to get a good start in race three, so it was good to make up those early spots. As it always does here, it’s really hard to pass once the pressures normalise and things start to settle down with all the heat going through the tyres.

“Overall a good weekend, no DNF’s and we collected good points. had success at SMP in the past in Carrera Cup, but I haven’t actually driven the 992 there. I missed out the testing there when the new cars were all delivered, so I’m looking forward to it,” concluded Russell.