JACKSON WALLS leaves the opening round of the 2023 Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia at Albert Park with the Championship lead, after claiming the final race win.

The result saw the youngster tie on points with race one victor Max Vidau, however, Walls claimed the overall round win on a countback.

Adrian Flack meanwhile secured the SP Tools Pro-Am with a dominant performance, repeating his opening race victory, mixing it up with the Equity-One Pro class drivers.

The race commenced with a delayed start after Tim Miles broke a driveshaft on the warm-up lap.

When the action got underway, Walls and Vidau battled hard through the opening turn, with Walls gaining the upper hand and driving away from the field, with Callum Hedge slotting into third ahead of Dale Wood and Nick McBride.

Notable early battles featured Angelo Mouzouris and Bayley Hall, plus Christian Pancione and David Wall, which unravelled at the end of the fourth lap, when Pancione spun at turn 13, with Wall losing ground taking avoiding action.

McBride meanwhile made it past Wood at turn 11 on lap six, as light rain began to fall.

The first to hit the water was Walls at turn one on lap seven, which allowed Vidau to bridge the gap, before forging into the lead three corners later.

Not to be beaten, Walls retook the top spot at turn six, with Hedge joining the lead battle.

Wood then regained fourth position, as the rain became heavier, with the safety car called on lap eight, with the race being chequered flagged at the conclusion of the next circuit.

At the finish it was Walls from Vidau, Hedge, Wood, David Russell, who also made it past McBride in the closing stages and had to settle for sixth, with the top-ten rounded out by Mouzouris, Hall, Alex Davison and Garnet Patterson.

Behind Flack in the SP Tools Pro-Am ranks was Dean Cook, Rodney Jane, Sam Shahin and Matthew Belford.

The second round of the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship is set for Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway from June 16-18.

Jackson Walls, Equity-One Pro class winner:

“It’s not too bad to start the year off! Obviously, there is still a long way to go with the rest of the championship, but to start it on a high like this, I’m so thankful to everyone in the McElrea team, my parents, and everyone who supports me, it’s just awesome. There were definitely some mixed conditions out there, I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know where to brake, and it was just a guessing game the whole time. Luckily I got back past Max when I made a little mistake, and I brought it home safely.”

Adrian Flack, SP Tools Pro-Am winner:

“That was certainly an exciting race, I got a good start, but then I got tangled up with all of the pros in their racing. I got a bit of a lead from the Pro-Ams and tried to maintain it. I had to put a few moves on some of the pros at the end, but that was cool. The conditions were unreal, to go from a half-wet track back to a dry track, and picking the difference between the two was pretty hairy, but gees it was fun. I never came into the pits when it started to rain in practice, so hopefully, that paid off today.