Almond And Gilbertson Take Sensational Home Wins At The Bend

Michael Almond and Anthony Gilbertson have reasons to smile as they depart The Bend Motorsport Park, both claiming their maiden Porsche Wilson Security Carrera Cup Australia round win in their native South Australia.

Almond started Sunday with victory in race two following his success in Saturday’s race one. It was Almond’s third Carrera Cup win, though just the first where he was the first to cross the finish line. His previous two wins came due to post-race penalties.

Dale Wood then won the final race of the weekend, returning to the top position for the first time since his Phillip Island clean sweep. Jaxon Evans placed second in the final race from Almond in third, who secured the round win by 18 points from Evans and Wood.

“I’m absolutely excited to get the win so close to home. It’s been a five-year wait until I have achieved a round win in Carrera Cup, so it’s taken long enough. I can’t ask much more than to do it in front of my family and friends,” said Almond.

“It’s a pretty surreal feeling to have such high calibre drivers in my rear view mirror. I feel like we had a good car and the boys at Sonic did an amazing job. We had our struggles but we regrouped as a team and kept the car at the front all weekend.”

A consistent weekend for series rookie Anthony Gilbertson helped the South Australian to the TAG Heuer Pro-Am win; three third place results was enough to secure his position on the top step of the class podium.

“I can’t believe it,” said Gilbertson. “I didn’t know exactly where I had placed for the round after the final race. I knew I had to finish ahead of Roger Lago but I still didn’t know what the points situation was. The boys got onto the radio on the in-lap and told me that I had won the round and I started crying in the car…it means that much to me. It’s a dream come true and for it to happen in South Australia – my home state – is just awesome.”

Race two winner in the TAG Heuer Pro-Am, Roger Lago, secured second for the round and regained the class points lead while a strong finish to the event in the final race for Max Twigg – second in class – promoted the Victorian to third in class for the round.

A highlight of the TAG Heuer Pro-Am on Sunday was the charge through the field by Adrian Flack. After a heavy impact accident in Saturday’s opening race, Flack was able to repair the damage and return to the circuit for race two, where he placed second in class from the rear of the grid. Flack then followed this with a class-winning performance in the third and final race.

A strong round for Jaxon Evans has seen the Queensland based racer expand his series lead over Dylan O’Keeffe, now sitting 62 and 73 points ahead in the Overall and Pro class standings.

Meanwhile Lago holds a 24-point lead over Stephen Grove in the TAG Heuer Pro-Am standings with Adrian Flack in third.

Porsche Wilson Security Carrera Cup Australia returns to the track for the season’s penultimate round at Mount Panorama, Bathurst, on October 04-07, 2018.