Lodge, Williams big winners at the Bend

Kobi Williams passed his way to a second consecutive Jim Richards Enduro Trophy race win on Sunday at The Bend Motorsport Park, while James Lodge’s consistency saw the returning driver claim round two of Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge this year. 

While Williams claimed the feature race, Lodge’s consistency across all three races saw him bank a trio of second-place race results and score enough points to win the round overall despite not wining a race. It was the second consecutive round win for Lodge’s Jones Motorsport team, who also claimed the season opener thanks to Hunter Robb.

His round win came in front of Xavier Avramides, who now leads the series standings overall, and fellow rookie Hayden Haikal who claimed his first podium in third.

The pair of Sonic Motor Raving Services drivers had each claimed their maiden Porsche victories on Saturday in the pair of sprint races held earlier in the weekend.

Anthony Gilbertson won not just the Enduro Cup race but also claimed his second-straight Pro-Am round with Stephen Moylan a strong second overall and Kent Leicester in third.

The 45-minute Enduro race was another thriller that saw massively combative racing throughout – continuing the recent theme.

Haikal, who started from pole, converted that to an early race lead while Hunter Robb continued his comeback from a slow start to proceedings on Saturday to jump to second.

The leading group ran as a train of up to seven cars before a climactic moment on the 10th lap saw Robb challenge for the lead at turn one, though the resulting combat saw both he and Haikal shuffled down the order with Williams in the right place at the right time to capitalise and grab the race lead.

Lodge, who had been running fourth at the time, was another beneficiary and jumped to second with Haikal shuffled back to third and Robb all the way back to sixth place.

While Williams did what he needed to fend off Lodge for the lead, the battle continued apace behind with Haikal, Avramides, Quimby and a recovering Robb all fighting on the final step of the podium.

Avramides and Quimby both passed Haikal with two laps remaining, the former securing himself into third position to ensure he would grab a narrow championship lead in the process.

On the final lap, Lodge then surged forward and passed both Quimby and Haikal to grab fourth.

The end result saw TGR’s Williams claim his second race win of the season in style and extend his lead at the top of the Jim Richards Enduro Cup standings.

Lodge finished second to assure himself of the round win with Avramides third, Robb fourth, Quimby fifth and Haikal sixth to secure his first round podium as well.

Behind them, Kamal Mrad recovered from a rollercoaster of a weekend to finish seventh with Ruari Avern, Lincoln Taylor and Lincoln Evans completing the top-10.

Gilbertson claimed a comfortable win in the Pro-Am ranks as he led Stephen Moylan and Kent Leicester to the line.

His round result was helped by a non-finish by Eric Constantinides, who was out at the same time as John McInnes that brought out the race’s only Safety Car.

Two rounds into the series and Xavier Avramides now finds himself leading the Pro standings by just two points; Round 1 winner Hunter Robb now a narrow second.

Kobi Williams’ strong form has seen him climb to third in the championship, just 16 points behind, while Haikal and Mrad complete the top five.

Five different drivers have now scored a round podium finish so far this year with four different race winners from the six races contested to date.

Anthony Gilbertson’s second straight round win ensures he extends his lead over Stephen Moylan in the Pro-Am ranks.

The next round of Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge will see the field return to Queensland Raceway in Ipswich for Round 3 of the championship, with the Shannons SpeedSeries, in early June.