DAVID Russell’s stellar Saturday night drive from 13th to fourth came with the pre-race gut feeling that Carrera Cup chaos was about to unfold.
First-corner carnage involving Fabian Coulthard skittled the field, before leaders Harri Jones and Dale Wood made contact that would lead to a post-race altercation.
Through it all, 42-year-old Russell calmly scythed his way through, showing off the expertise that has helped him become a two-time Bathurst 1000 podium finisher.
“I’ve been around long enough to know that there’s certain races that just have that feeling about them and that was certainly one of them,” he said.
“(It was about trying) just to survive and to know that you had to make the most of any opportunities that came up.
“It’s very important to make sure we can load our car safely in the container to go Taupō, so for me it was all about making sure we brought the car home without a mark on it.”
After sustaining race-ending radiator damage on the Friday, Russell’s result helped him claw his way back up to ninth in the standings, albeit already 101 points behind early pacesetter Jones.
“We got some points back, but we’re going to fight back now and get ourselves back into the championship hunt,” said Russell.
“The only way to do that is to finish races and be up the front.”
Round 2 of the 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia will come on the undercard of the ITM Taupō Super400 on April 19-21.
