Kiwi speedster Jonny Reid’s perfect round at Sydney Olympic Park has secured him second in the Porsche City Index Carrera Cup Australia standings this weekend, while James Koundouris claimed the round win in the Elite Class.
After two race victories on Saturday, Reid took the lead from the start of Sunday’s Race 3 ahead of Daniel Gaunt, Steven Richards and 2012 champion Craig Baird.
Reid remained in the lead for the entire race until the chequered flag, ahead of Gaunt and Baird, who held off Alex Davison in a battle for third on the final lap.
Nick Foster finished fifth from Richards, Alexandre Imperatori and Elite Class race winner Max Twigg in eighth.
For Reid, the clean sweep of race wins was a perfect way to finish the 2012 season in Sydney – a round in which he moved into second in the championship ahead of Davison after missing the opening round in Adelaide.
“I didn’t expect to deliver pole position and three race wins at this late stage in the championship when everyone is at their best, so it’s a great feeling to take victory at the season finale,” said Reid, who won the round from Baird and Gaunt.
“It was an unexpected round win, to be fair. The dedication of the team over the duration of the championship has given me the ability to perform at a higher level and I want to thank Nathan Tinkler, the Hunter Sports Group and Hunter Motor Sport for their dedication and for the opportunity this year.”
After taking two Elite Class race wins on Saturday, second place to newly crowned Elite Class champion Twigg and ninth outright in Race 3 was enough to secure Koundouris the Elite Class round win from Twigg, Tony Bates and Marc Cini.
“I’m happy with the round win. We made some changes for the last race and had great speed in the race. I’ve never really gone well here but we seemed to turn it around this weekend,” said Koundouris.
“Max and I have been battling for a long time; I beat Max for the first three or four years in GT and Carrera Cup and Max has had a good couple of years. The big thing this year is that I missed a round in Townsville, which was costly. Had I gone to Townsville it would have been a real close finish. But well done to Max and I look forward to next season.”
Andre Heimgartner finished 10th in the final race from Shae Davies, Bates, Cini, Theo Koundouris, Michael Loccisano and Ray Angus.
The Carrera Cup Australia championship will return to the track at the opening 2013 event at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide on February 28 to March 03, 2013.
For final results and points, visit the Carrera Cup website, www.carreracup.com.au.
