AUS: Gold Coast race two notes

PORSCHES GLOW ON THE GOLD COAST Surfers Paradise lit up tonight as 20 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars streamed around the illuminated 4.47km street circuit for race two of the Wright Patton Shakespeare Carrera Cup at the Lexmark Indy 300. The race ...

PORSCHES GLOW ON THE GOLD COAST

Surfers Paradise lit up tonight as 20 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars streamed around the illuminated 4.47km street circuit for race two of the Wright Patton Shakespeare Carrera Cup at the Lexmark Indy 300.

The race started and ended with mixed emotions for the all-Porsche championship's leading two drivers -- Fabian Coulthard and Jim Richards.

OAMPS Insurance Brokers-backed Richards withdrew before the race with engine damage following yesterday's incident-marred race one.

This left the younger charger Coulthard (Glenfords Tool Centres / Makita) with a window of opportunity to develop a comfortable gap in the race for the championship trophy.

As the 20 Porsches accelerated off the start line with their headlights on, Coulthard shot to the lead by the first Lexmark chicane ahead of local Gold Coast driver Klark Quinn (Team VIP Petfoods), Adelaide's Bryce Washington, 20-year-old Ian Dyk (Glenfords Tool Centres / DeWalt, AEG), Cameron McLean (Sherrin Racing) and race one hard charger Paul Freestone (Freestone's Transport).

Many of the record day two crowd of 64,111 stayed around to watch the Porsche racing spectacle over the seven laps.

Coulthard maintained control of the race from the start setting a fastest lap time of 1:58.0149 on the second last lap.

By the checkered flag, Coulthard held almost a two second margin over Quinn with Washington finishing third -- his highest-ever race place in the Wright Patton Shakespeare Carrera Cup.

Dyk continued to impress in his rookie year with a fourth placing ahead of the more experienced McLean in fifth and Freestone sixth.

Last year's Formula Ford champion David Reynolds has had an unhappy round so far after collecting the wall at turn four on lap four, producing his second DNF in a row.

This has allowed Peter Fitzgerald (Abcor / Acer) to leapfrog him into fifth place in the championship standings after Fitzgerald's seventh placing tonight.

At the top of the standings is Coulthard who now has a 102 point buffer over Richards with another lead-building race in hand for the 23-year-old Kiwi.

The Porsche drivers have a day off the track tomorrow before lining up on the grid for race three over seven laps on Sunday. This race will conclude round eight and penultimate round of the Wright Patton Shakespeare Carrera Cup.