Thomas Sargent did everything he needed to do to claim the 2022 Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia Series in the final round at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.
Ryan Wood swept to the final round win with a pair of race victories, but couldn’t overhaul his season-long rival in the title battle.
A pair of second place finishes in two races held at the high-speed Victorian circuit capped off a remarkable year for Sargent, who finished first or second in every race this year.
It was also the second consecutive one-make Porsche title for Sargent’s CHE Engineering / Tegra Australia team, who claimed the 2021 Carrera Cup title with Cameron Hill, and also comes in the same year the two drivers teamed up to win the Bathurst 6 Hour endurance race.
Saturday’s race day was a dramatic affair much as the entire season has been, and ultimately saw the second of three races declared early with no points awarded.
In Race 1, Sargent beat Wood into the first corner and led the race until a Safety Car slowed the field on lap two.
That yellow was caused when Tom Taplin and Lachlan Bloxsom made contact at Turn four, the damage ending Taplin’s day and sending Bloxom – at the time a contender for third in the championship – to the back of the field.
Wood pounced on the restart, passing his season-long rival to grab a race lead he would never lose.
Sargent fended off advances from Courtney Prince to hold on to second, with the Sonic driver a strong third.
Race two started with Wood out-muscling Sargent for the lead on the run into turn one, while Harrison Goodman charged up from the third row to run third.
However, the race was brought under Safety Car after four laps when contact between Danny Stuttered and Sam Shahin saw the former turned into the barriers on the exit of Turn 10.
The lengthy Safety Barrier repair forced the race to be red flagged and ultimately declared, with no points awarded.
That left the final race to decide the title which was a gripping one as Wood and Sargent again battled hard in the early stages, Wood taking the early lead and leading a freight train of cars before he was able to pull away.
The EBM / Team Porsche NZ driver claimed his eighth race win of the year – one more than Sargent – however the latter’s safe second position was more than enough to seal the title.
He ultimately won the title by 19 points, with Aron Shields completing the podium both for the Phillip Island round and the season.
Shields had been forced to fend off Courtney Prince for much of the race before ultimately pulling away in third.
Prince would drop back to fifth position by the flag, behind a charging Lachlan Bloxsom who finished fourth thanks to a late pass on the Sonic driver.
The Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia Series returns in 2023.
Comments