Andre Heimgartner has crossed the line in third in the fourth Australian Grand Prix Carrera Cup Australia race this afternoon to walk away from the Melbourne event leading the championship by 34 points.
The 21 year old Melbourne-based Kiwi had entered this weekend on equal points for the lead thanks to his round-winning performance at the Clipsal 500. Now with two seconds, a seventh and today’s third, he looks ahead to the next event (Phillip Island, May 26-28) with a nice buffer over David Wall.
Heimgartner started seventh on the grid for today’s fourth and final race of the weekend, moving up three positions within the first three corners in a strong display of speed and race craft.
Later that lap, he would come up behind team-mate Nick McBride and went to work on taking third place – getting it done with a clean and swift pass on lap three.
From there, Heimgartner set after Cameron McConville for second, but with tyre wear creeping in, he would settle for the third step of the race podium, 4th for the round and an extended title lead.
“It has certainly been an interesting weekend here at the Australian Grand Prix, but we walk away leading the title chase as we head to round three and with podium finishes in three of the four races including two seconds,” Heimgartner said.
“I am very happy with this weekend overall – it is all about the big picture. I am still learning this car and it is very encouraging that we were able to come back from yesterday’s mistakes with set-up and my start to have the car pace and the handling to move through the field like we did off the start and bring home the third.
“In those final laps I just didn’t have anything left in the tyres to chase down McConville, but it was a great race and I am very happy with how things are going.
“Next up for the Carrera Cup championship is the Phillip Island circuit and that is going to be a lot of fun – it is such a fast and flowing circuit and I can’t wait to unleash in the #777 Bob Jane T-Marts Porsche there in May.”
Heimgartner will next be on-track across May 26-28, for round three of the Carrera Cup Australia Championship at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.
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