After taking a race victory on the Gold Coast today, Andre Heimgartner has secured second in the 2017 Carrera Cup Australia title – missing out on the top step by just 20 points from David Wall in the narrowest title margin in the category’s history.
The 2017 Carrera Cup Australia runner-up now looks ahead to Race 22 of the Supercars Championship on the Gold Coast this afternoon, aboard the #14 Freightliner Racing Commodore he is sharing with Tim Slade this weekend.
With a convincing race win this morning, Heimgartner ensured the title chase came right down to the wire with just a 32-point margin between himself and Wall as they lined up for the final race of the year. With that result he also tied for points in the Carrera Cup’s Endurance Cup with Alex Davison. With the pair still tied on the first countback (number of firsts, seconds and thirds), only a second countback (who won the first race of the Cup) would award the Cup to Davison.
Heimgartner started race three on pole courtesy of his race two result, however when he needed to take two goes at the clutch to get underway, his fell back to fourth. Just corners later, Heimgartner would take back third before setting after Davison for the remainder of the race. Despite strong car speed and having a few looks, Heimgartner would finish the race third, while Wall would finish fifth to clinch the title.
“To bring the championship margin down to the narrowest it has ever been in this category’s history is pretty rewarding, even if we couldn’t quite get the big trophy today,” Heimgartner said.
“It has been a good day – things didn’t go my way on the startline for race three but it was a convincing win this morning and I had a great car underneath me all day long.
“From signing up with Sonic Motor Racing Services two weeks before the Clipsal 500 and going on to win that round, to winning at Bathurst two weeks ago, to securing second in the title today, it has been a really great year in Carrera Cup and I have had a lot of fun. My congratulations go to David Wall on taking out the title today.
“It has been a big year, a huge month, and a fantastic weekend – I can’t thank my sponsors enough for throwing their support behind me this year and riding this journey with me, I couldn’t have done what I have without them.”
Earlier in the weekend, the 22-year-old qualified on pole on Friday before securing second in miserable conditions on Saturday, seeing him start on the front row of the grid for today’s first of two races held under sunny skies today.
Keen pundits will remember Heimgartner was originally marked as third in yesterday’s race after Wall out-dragged him to the finish line by just 35 thousandths of a second. However, race control later penalised Wall 0.5 of a second post-race for shortcutting the circuit and as such, Heimgartner was awarded the second place.
Heimgartner got a near-perfect start to lead race two before the turn one braking zone and from there, was not headed. Fast lap after fast lap early in the race and then again in the final third of the race ensured he maintained a gap over race one winner Jaxon Evans. Wall finished fifth to see the gap between the contenders reduced to just 32 points ahead of the final race of the year that afternoon.
Heimgartner will start this afternoon’s Race 22 of the Supercars Australia Championship from 12th position after Slade suffered an engine failure during qualifying in the #14 Freightliner Racing/Brad Jones Racing Commodore. Today’s race start follows on from a third-place finish for the team after an inspired drive from Heimgartner saw the pair lead the race by almost 20 seconds in the first half of the race. For more info on yesterday’s race result, please click here.
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