Queensland clean-sweep gives Tom Sargent series lead

  CHE Racing Team’s Tom Sargent has dominated proceedings at Round 2 of the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge at Queensland Raceway after a clean-sweep of all three races.

In just his second round racing in the second-tier Porsche category, the reigning Australia Formula Ford Series winner led practice and just fell short of pole position by just 0.061s to Kiwi rival Ryan Wood.

Sargent alongside Wood have emerged as the class of this year’s Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge field, with the pair duelling across the weekend across the three races.

Starting from second on the grid, what was to define the weekend was Sargent’s rapid starts beginning in Race 1 where he led throughout and managed to break the lap record at Queensland Raceway with a 1m 10.604s.

Sargent followed this performance by leading from start-to-finish in Race 2, taking a 1.4s victory from Wood as he also took the series lead.

A 35-lap enduro followed on Sunday where Sargent overcame every challenge Wood threw at him as the pair were separated by barely a second throughout. Lapped competitors provided an added opportunity for Wood; however, Sargent was able to negotiate through without drama to complete an impressive clean-sweep in the Tegra Australia Porsche.

Sargent leads the title heading to the historic Sandown Motor Raceway on September 16-18 as part of the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships.

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Tom Sargent
#47 Tegra Australia CHE Racing, Porsche

“It was an awesome weekend in Queensland for Round 2 of the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge, we came away with three wins in the end,” summarised Sargent.

“It was very tough all weekend with Ryan (Wood), he raced me all the way to the end. It’s going to be a great season with him racing hard and fair, so I’m really looking forward to it and happy with how this weekend went.

“We don’t have the usual team due to the split between New South Wales and Queensland, so it was awesome to get in some new people, and still get the job done.

“I’m looking forward to Sandown and let’s see if we can do it again.”