Pole, race win and lap record for Bewley at the Bend

Kiwi teenager Tom Bewley turned in another outstanding rookie performance in the Australian Porsche Sprint Challenge championship at The Bend last weekend, with another pole position, his third lap record of the season and a race win.

After a devastating crash on the streets of Townsville last month when he was shunted out of a race lead, the 17-year-old from Havelock North bounced back in Adelaide to close the championship points gap back up for what promises to be an exciting four-way shoot-out at the final round in November to find the top three.

A scintillating qualifying lap and opening race win at The Bend put Bewley in the best position for a championship comeback with two races to go.

“I knew the car and me had really good pace over one lap. I got a good banker lap at the start of qualifying on the first set of green tyres and then managed to put a mega lap together and go under the lap record,” said Bewley.

“The car was hooked up, it was a good lap!”

Bewley converted pole into a Pro Class race victory and was going well at the start of the second race before misfortune struck.

“I got a good start and got into the lead, I knew the car had really strong race pace so if I got it up-and-going right at the start I thought I might be able to drive away just enough to build a gap but sadly, halfway into the first lap there was a safety car.

“Off the restart I just pinched the front a little bit into turn one and dropped back one place before another safety car and that’s when I had the drama and went back to seventh.”

Gear selection issues mid-race saw the #4 Dura-Seal/Clipped Assist Porsche fall back to seventh place at the chequered flag.

“It sounded like a downshift issue. I got into fourth [gear] coming into turn six and I couldn’t get it to go down a gear. I eventually got it into third and got going again but had lost too much ground.”

Bewley described his final race start from P7, the finish position of the previous race, as “one of my best” and he made immediate ground, soon up to third place and searching for a way to get by Ryan Casha, the driver who’d speared him into the concrete wall at Townsville.

“I was stuck behind the guy for quite a few laps but I noticed he was taking quite a wide line into one corner, so I stuck my nose up the inside and as we both got to the apex he’s just come down and we made contact mid-corner.”

Originally on the podium as second-best championship driver for the weekend, Bewley was issued with a harsh 30-second post-race penalty for the race three incident which dropped him to 16th and lost valuable championship points. Just 34 points covers Casha in second place and Bewley in fourth with 200 championship points on offer at the final round.

Bewlewy’s rookie season campaign in Australia is supported by Dura-Seal High Performance Vehicle Protection, Clipped Assist, Porsche New Zealand, Earl Bamber Motorsport, Showerdome, Creme Insurance and TACCOC.