Today I had the pleasure of being pit crew and pocket photographer to my colleague David Benda who drove a Porsche 996 GT3 Cup Car at the Masters of Mallala, in Mallala South Australia. David has a long track record of car racing, with previous races held at Collingrove Hill climb in his Porsche 911, located at Mount Mckenzie, South Australia.
David excelled considering it was his first race in his new 996!
Up at 0630, out the door at 0700, arriving at 0830 for scrutineering and preparation for a long day! David prepared his Porsche 996 GT3 Cup Car (#30) for a day of racing with qualifying starting at 0955. After a confident first run, David started in 7th position of 14 racers.
Race One
The first race was under way by 10 past 12. After some successful passes, David came up against rival Amanda Sparks in her 911 RS. All was well, zooming down the back stretch before turn 8 where David attempted an overtake from the inside, which resulted in a wipe out in the gravel pit. Sparks just couldn’t see him due to the sheer speed of the corner entry leaving David to finish as tail end Charlie, 13th (Bank SA ferrari did not continue racing due to gear box issues).
Race Two
In the beginning of Race 2, David started right at the back. He knew he had to recover the time in this race to stay in the game. In the first 3 laps, David gained 5 positions with more to come! He placed 4th when passing the chequered flag on lap 8. Sam Shahin of On The Run, in his 911 GT3 came off the track on corner 5, losing his pole position and putting him at the rear of the next race.
Race Three & Four
Race 3 was under way by 1730. David managed to hold his position in 4th, while Shahin regained 10 positions, putting him in 3rd. This left the game wide open for race 4. Come 1945, it was time for the final race. Down to 7 racers due to unsuspecting car troubles, the race began. Being dusk, it was quite hard to see at such high speeds with the spot lights shining down lighting up the track. This was David’s first twilight race and it came as a bit of a challenge. With the final result, David managed to hold 4th place and have a breezy final run with a cool down following shortly after.
Calling it 2030, after a long day of racing, we’ll be back again for round two on the 23rd & 24th of May.
Rich.
To see all the pictures click here, Masters of Mallala Round 1 Photos
loading map - please wait...