Kiwi Ryan Wood and Australian Thomas Sargent will battle for the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge title at Phillip Island, after Wood claimed victory at Mount Panorama to firmly keep his title hopes alive.
Having qualified on pole but finished second to Sargent in the first race on Friday, Wood struck back on Saturday with a series of decisive performances to claim the Bathurst round and keep the pressure on points leader Sargent heading into the Grand Finale’.
“It was another great race, had a good start this time which made my life a bit easier,” commented Wood. “I’m still bit annoyed with myself after race 1, but I learnt a lot yesterday in those conditions, so we punch on to Phillip Island and hopefully carry this form.
“It’s been a huge season between me and Tom (Sargent), its been great for the fans, so we’ll see what we can do at Phillip Island. I think the championship is a little bit far away for us now, but we’ll just try to keep winning races and see what happens.”
Wood’s pathway to a Bathurst win started early in race two when he and Sargent battled for the lead early in the race.
The young Kiwi was able to slip by at the Chase and then fended off his year-long rival for the remainder to claim the win.
He then backed that up with a more comfortable win in race three to claim the round for Team Porsche NZ / Earl Bamber Motorsport.
Sargent scored a pair of seconds on Saturday to finish second overall for the round and ensure he retains a solid championship lead heading to the Phillip Island finale’.
Third overall at Mount Panorama was Team Navy / McElrea driver Lachlan Bloxsom, who scored a round podium following several near-misses this year.
The final round of the 2022 Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia Series will be contested at the iconic Island Magic event at the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit on November 25-26.
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