VIDAU CLAIMS BREAKTHROUGH WIN IN WET AND WILD PORSCHE CARRERA CUP AUSTRALIA OPENER IN MELBOURNE

MAX VIDAU has sensationally claimed his maiden Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia race win, in a dramatic race at Albert Park on Friday evening. 

Adrian Flack claimed the SP Tools Pro-Am class in a wet weather race that was filled with action – making up for the non-event that was Thursday’s planned season opener.

Starting from the outside of the front row, the TekworkX driver made the best start and led Callum Hedge into the first corner on a circuit still drying from heavier rain earlier in the day.

Vidau pushed hard to build a margin early before conserving his rubber in the middle stanza while the remainder of the field battled.

Jackson Walls slipped to second early on, leaving Hedge to spend much of his race scrapping with Thomas Maxwell in a thrilling fight for third.

The pair battled through to the penultimate lap with Hedge fending off attack after attack before Maxwell slipped off the road with a lap to go.

That elevated Nick McBride to fourth, Dale Wood to fifth and David Russell to sixth, with Angelo Mouzouris, Bayley Hall, Alex Davison and Christian Pancione completing the top-10.

Out front, Vidau had enough tyre in reserve to hold out a charging Walls in the closing stages to finally claim his maiden Carrera Cup win, and first in Equity-One Pro – as well as being the leading Michelin Junior.

The South Australian had three times finished second and won last year’s Albert Park round without claiming a race win.

Flack’s win in the SP Tools Pro-Am class was the 19th of his career and opens his account for the 2023 championship.

He led home Rodney Jane and Matt Belford in the Pro-Am fight with Dean Cook and Sam Shahin – who survived an early race spin – fourth and fifth, respectively.

Maxwell, Dylan O’Keeffe (tyre) and Ryder Quinn failed to finish the 13-lap race. 

The final race of the weekend will be held on Saturday evening at Albert Park.

Max Vidau, Equity-One Pro class winner:

“I just got a good start, finally after that first one, it was a bit average, but I just drove away. The boys told me to conserve the tyres because they were probably getting a bit warm, so I just rolled out of it halfway through. I built a good gap, and it was an easy drive home. It was mentally hard, but on track it felt easy, it looked easy. Me and Rob, my Dad, we’ve been trying to do this for a long time, everyone has worked seriously hard, and I can’t thank them enough, I’m just excited to get it done.”

Adrian Flack, SP Tools Pro-Am winner:

“I got a really good start, I managed to go down the outside, I don’t know, I made up three or four spots straight out of the gate, and then I chased a few of them down as we went as well, that was awesome! It was slippery, but a lot of fun. It was quite hard when it started to rain a little bit, there was mud on the windscreen being pushed around by the wipers, but other than that, it was really really fun. Tomorrow I’ve just got to keep the momentum, when you’ve built a bit of confidence, you’ve just got to keep building on it.”