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Round two of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia will be held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit this May.

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QUINN SWEEPS ROUND ONE OF GT3 CUP CHALLENGE AT BATHURST

A COMPLETE PERFORMANCE from Tony Quinn has seen the Team VIP Petfoods driver fly to the outright lead of the GT3 Cup challenge Australia series after round one at Mount Panorama, this weekend.

After taking out pole position and race one on Friday, Quinn took out both races held at the 6.213km circuit today though it wasn't for a lack of drama – safety car interruptions again breaking up each race and prolonging what was a commanding performance from the Queenslander.

Quinn now leads the GT3 Cup Challenge thanks to his round one win, and leads 2008 championship protagonists Bill Pye and Sven Burchartz into the second round of the championship - to be held at Phillip Island in May.

With his wry sense of humor, Quinn joked that the highlight of the weekend was actually teaching another competitor new driving tricks.

"Of course it was nice to win - but my highlight was contributing to Bill Pye's driving career by teaching him how to flat shift," he grinned. "It's nice to contribute to his career!"

"It was good to have (997 Trophy competitor) Nathan Caratti to race against. A couple of the other drivers had problems and I think guys like Max Twigg probably didn't have the kind of weekend they are capable of. But the series is really great and growing - and I hope it continues to do so."

Bill Pye posted two consistent results today to score second for the round whilst Sven Burchartz overcame a race three off at the chase - after a late-braking overtaking move that went slightly wrong - to charge though to third overall for the round.

The best story of the day was the comeback from Mathew Kingsley and Max Twigg, who both rebounded in brilliant fashion from yesterday's opening lap dramas.

Thanks to the goodwill from fellow competitors and the support from Porsche Cars Australia, both made the start for race one this morning - starting at the back of the GT3 Cup competitors - and both raced into the top fifteen in the shortened affair.

Both truly shone in the final race with Twigg charging his way through to third place and Kingsley to fifth in a sensational comeback.

Today's races were again safety car interrupted with several incidences halting proceedings. In race two, two leading 944 challenge competitors (Justin Tate and Sean Carter) came together at Griffins' bend with Tate's car backing into the wall and rolling over in dramatic fashion.

Earlier in the race Victorian Michael Lentini made heavy contact with the wall at Reid Park, severely damaging the front of his Lentini Dental 996 Gt3.

In race three leading class A competitor Russell Kempnich had a massive ‘loose' in the Chase, sliding into the sand trap and barely avoiding a rollover. All drivers - their pride aside - were uninjured.

Despite the dramatic fashion in which the races were conducted, and the multiple safety car periods, the opening round of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge proved to be a huge success - with more than 40 cars racing, several thousand dollars of money raised for the McDonald House Charities and the series' mantra of enjoyable motorsport coming to the fore on multiple occasions.

TONY QUINN GETS THE WIN IN PORSCHE GT3 CUP CHALLENGE AUSTRALIA SERIES OPENER

TONY QUINN gave up full-time Porshce racing just a few seasons ago - but it didn't take long for that winning feeling to come back on his return.

The Queenslander took out race one of the 2009 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia Series at Mount Panorama today after earlier taking a commanding pole position during qualifying.

Quinn (VIP Petfoods Porsche 996 Gt3 Cup car) had a race long battle with the 997 Trophy Class car of Nathan Caratti and took the win - and the fastest lap - in a shortened six lap race that featured one early safety car period after an opening lap shunt.

Comeback driver Matt Kingsley - who was making his first race start after a massive crash at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide when driving a V8 Ute last year - qualified a brilliant third on his Porshce debut but managed to move only a few centimeters from his starting spot before suspected clutch problems left his car without drive and at the mercy of the 42-car grid bearing down on him.

Sven Burchartz managed to take avoiding action but not so lucky was Max Twigg, who hit the back of Kingsley's Porsche ending both races on the spot.

"I got five centimeters and then I had nothing, no drive and no gears, nothing," said a bitterly disappointed Kingsley.

"It's obviously very disappointing given this is my first race back. It was all going really well before that and we were working our way back into it. We'll strip the car down tonight and see what needs repairing - hopefully we can get back out tomorrow."

Twigg, too, will be assessing the damage to the front of his True-loc supported 996 GT3 Cup Car.

"I got the best start I'd had for ages, it hooked up brilliantly," said the Victorian.

"I saw Sven take some action but kept going straight and there was Kingsley. I had nowhere to go and hit him. We'll check the damage and see if we can get back out tomorrow."

Whilst there were some hard luck cases up front, some were able to use the drama to advance their position ahead of tomorrow's two races that complete the round.

Paul Bollinowsky started eighth and finished sixth, Mark Krashos jumped from 10th to 7th and Brad Rankin made up four places, finishing eighth after a 11th place effort in qualifying. Brad Rankin was another to leap into the top ten.

In the 944 Challenge, 17 year old Justin Tate fought out a close battle with Sean Carter and withheld the attack to take out the ‘race within a race' today.

Earlier in the day Walter Epple, all the way from Perth, had a crash at the top of Mount Panorama in practice this morning and will be an unfortunate withdrawal from the remainder of the round.

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