Percat/Smollen win thrilling Carrera Cup opener

Nick Percat and Shane Smollen came through a thrilling dice with Scott McLaughlin and Stephen Grove to win the first Porsche Carrera Cup Australia enduro encounter at Phillip Island.

The V8 Supercar duo of Percat and McLaughlin were involved in a titanic battle for the lead in the first stint of the race, which saw the pair swap positions on several occasions.

Garry Rogers Motorsport driver McLaughlin produced a highly impressive run from fourth on the grid to put himself in a fight for the lead with Percat.

Percat and McLaughlin pitted with just seconds to spare on the pit window, but the race was robbed of a fascinating battle to the finish, when McLaughlin’s co-driver Grove emerged from the pits stuck on the pit limiter.

Grove quickly got up to speed but lost more than six seconds to Percat’s co-driver Smollen, who then controlled the remaining laps to take the chequered flag by 2.8 seconds.

The #14 OPS Gateway entry of Cameron McConville and John Goodacre claimed the final place on the podium in third.

Nick McBride and Neale Muston finished fourth with Shae Davies and Geoff Emery in fifth.

A strong drive from 15th on the grid from championship leader Steven Richards saw the #1 Laser Plumbing entry finish seventh in the hands of Dean Grant.

Roger Lago, Max Twigg and V8 Supercras ace Tim Slade rounded out the top 10.

A second 36 lap Porsche Carrera Cup enduro race will take place on Sunday.

Result: Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Race 1, Phillip Island 

1	McGrath Estate Agents	S.Smollen/N.Percat	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	36	57:51.8006
2	Grove Group	S.Grove/S.McLaughlin	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	36	57:54.6201
3	OPS Gateway	C.McConville/J.Goodacre	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	36	57:55.8830
4	Bob Jane T-Marts	N.McBride/N.Muston	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	36	58:04.2103
5	Davbridge Constructions	S.Davies/G.Emery	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	36	58:05.2051
6	Bob Jane T-Marts	N.Foster/D.Thomas	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	36	58:09.5046
7	Laser Plumbing & Electrical	S.Richards/D.Grant	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	36	58:10.6244
8	JBS Australia	R.Lago/S.Owen	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	36	58:10.8808
9	Porsche Centre Melbourne	C.Baird/M.Twigg	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	36	58:20.1614
10	Veritas / Builtform	A.Mastronadro/T.Slade	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	36	58:24.5664
11	Copyworld Toshiba	M.Almond/J.Karytinos	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	36	58:29.7149
12	Wilson Security/PAYCE/Genis	R.Muscat/S.Walter	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	36	58:30.3416
13	Apartment Hotel	A.Samadi/D.Fiore	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	36	58:39.9708
14	AFS/Top Cat	T.Bates/D.Gaunt	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	36	59:00.0794
15	Porsche Centre Brighton	F.Ross/D.Ryan	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	35	57:52.1113
16	VIP Petfoods	D.Padayachee/I.Padayachee	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	35	58:11.2280
17	Team BRM	S.Hodge/R.Angus	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	35	58:47.2176
18	Hallmarc	M.Cini/C.Mies	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	32	58:28.7132
DNF	Scott Taylor Motorsport	S.Taylor/D.Canto	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	32	54:40.3717
DNF	Phase 8	M.Campbell/T.Miles	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	30	49:29.2384
DNF	Finanze Ezi	James Koundouris (ACT)	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	5	12:36.3319
DNF	MotorOne Car Care	James Bergmuller (Vic)	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

VIDEO: Percat and Smollen speak after winning the opening race

 VIDEO: Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Nick Percat and Scott McLaughlin dice