Andre Heimgartner battled rising track temperatures and tyre wear to wage a stoic battle to maintain his Carrera Cup Australia title lead during race three at the Australian Grand Prix this afternoon.
Heimgartner started on the front row courtesy of his second-placed result in yesterday’s race two, lining up alongside his Sonic Racing team-mate Nick McBride.
Unfortunately, with the rising track temperatures both cars were caught out with rear tyre wear, and while waging a strong battle throughout the race were unable to hold off the advances of Cameron McConville and Alex Davison.
“We have to take a big picture view and while things didn’t go our way today with the set-up not lining up as well as we would have liked with the track conditions, we still brought home a straight car which is in the points lead and we know where to go from here,” Heimgartner explained.
“Both Nick and I struggled for tyres out there today but we ran a clean and strong race and I am confident that tomorrow will see us back on the front foot and ready to fight for the race win.”
Heimgartner crossed the finish line in fourth position behind McConville, Davison and McBride, however was reclassified as seventh following the race after incurring a five second penalty for a false start infringement.
“I am disappointed about making a small mistake on the start which saw us incur a penalty and drop a bit further down the order post-race which will see us start on the fourth row for the final race of the weekend tomorrow,” Heimgartner said.
“While that certainly isn’t what you want, we have to wear that and just move forward – we know what work we need to do with the set-up and the car, and I know what I need to do behind the wheel, so we will be ready to throw everything at it tomorrow.”
The fourth and final race of the Australian Grand Prix weekend will be held on Sunday the 26th of March at 1.50pm local time.
Race 3 Results
1. #5 Cameron McConville (Outright) Repair Management Australia – 10 laps, 20:12.2169s
2. #888 Alex Davison (Outright) President Limo Australia – 10 laps, 20:12.9722s
3. #77 Nick McBride (Outright) Sonic / Bob Jane T-Marts – 10 laps, 20:15.6693s
4. #88 Dylan O’Keeffe (Outright) APB Group/President Limo Australia – 10 laps, 20:17.3760s
5. #38 David Wall (Outright) PAYCE/Wilson Security – 10 laps, 20:18.1145s
6. #7 Jaxon Evans (Outright) Hungry Jacks – 10 laps, 20:18.5545s
7. #777 Andre Heimgartner (Outright) Bob Jane T-Marts / Sonic – 10 laps, 20:21.3280s
8. #6 Michael Almond (Outright) Repair Management Australia – 10 laps, 20:21.5020s
9. #8 Lars Kern (Outright) Porsche Centre Melbourne – 10 laps, 20:24.3079s
10. #54 James Abela (Outright) Horsley Park Gun Shop – 10 laps, 20:41.1154s
11. #4 Stephen Grove (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Grove Group – 10 laps, 20:43.8923s
12. #9 Marc Cini (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Hallmarc – 10 laps, 20:48.5801s
13. #22 Dean Cook (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) DNA Racing – 10 laps, 20:56.8337s
14. #48 Matt Palmer (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) STR Truck Bodies – 10 laps, 21:01.2529s
15. #131 Graham Williams (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) DNA Racing – 10 laps, 22:21.2201s
DNF #33 Simon Ellingham (Outright) Peak Marketing – 9 laps, 18:56.0062s
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