MARCO GILTRAP led a Kiwi 1-2 in a pair of combative races that opened the second round of the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia Series at Symmons Plains Raceway.
The 18-year-old Aucklander, who won the opening round of the series at Phillip Island, started from pole and won the opening race after leading all the way.
He then battled closely with his Team Porsche NZ / EBM teammate Zac Stichbury in race two before executing a nice move mid-race to get the lead and grab his second win of the day.
“I made it hard for myself at the start but we got there in the end,” commented Giltrap. “I just think I just went in too deep. You know, I was watching Ronan (Murphy) on the right of me.
“I had a monumental moment out of Turn 3, I thought I was about to go around but kept it in it!
“I covered off Oscar who was coming in behind me and from there with me and Zac had a really good pace at the start for about the first three quarters of the race.
“I could see. Zac was struggling the same with me and I just went for a move. It was pretty pretty big one and I was like lucky to get a stopped. But from there, we just pressed on.”
Giltrap made the best start in race one and led the field into turn one, while Bloxsom was wide at turn two and dropped several spots.
Two separate incidents early in the race brought the Safety Car out, the first a spin from Hamish Fitzsimmons who was turned around at the Turn 4 hairpin.
The second was contact between Ross McGregor and Eric Constandinidis on the exit of turn three, which saw both cars make contact with each other and then the wall.
On the restart, Giltrap led the field back to green while some enthusiastic racing broke out behind for the podium spots.
Marcos Flack and Aron Shields ran second and third, before contact between the pair at the hairpin saw Flack spun.
Shields also rotated and was collected by Bloxsom on his way though, damaging both cars in the process.
Ronan Murphy avoided the chaos to climb to second while impressive rookie Oscar Targett jumped to third – the pair finishing in that order behind eventual winner Giltrap.
In race two, a frenetic opening lap saw Giltrap survive a wild moment at turn three as his car slid sideways, allowing a fast-starting Stichbury to take the lead.
The pair ran nose-to-tail for the first half of the race before Giltrap pounced and passed his teammate for the lead.
They ran nose-to-tail for the remainder in the first 1-2 finish for Earl Bamber Motorsport and Team Porsche NZ in local Porsche competition.
Harrison Goodman finished third while Ronan Murphy was in the mix throughout, finishing fourth.
Oscar Targett ran third in the early stages before dropping back to fifth in just his second ever Porsche race, while Tom Taplin was a stout sixth.
Sunday will see the third and final race of the weekend battled out over 40 minutes, representing the second round of the Jim Richards Endurance Trophy.
Race Results (Top 5)
Race 1
1/ Marco Giltrap
2/ Ronan Murphy
3/ Oscar Targett
4/ Zac Stichbury
5/ Harrison Goodman
Race 2
1/ Marco Giltrap
2/ Zac Stichbury
3/ Harrison Goodman
4/ Ronan Murphy
5/ Oscar Targett
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