2011 Australian Carrera Cup Championship
# 2011 Australian Carrera Cup Championship

The 2011 Australian Carrera Cup Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. The championship, which was contested over seven rounds across four states, began on 24 March 2011 at the Australian Grand Prix and ended on 4 December at the Sydney 500. It was the seventh Australian Carrera Cup Championship.

After the opening round of the series, reigning champion Craig Baird led the championship having scored a second and two wins over the course of the 2011 Australian Grand Prix weekend. Baird was thirty points ahead of Daniel Gaunt and Steven Richards. The winner of the opening race of the season, Jonny Reid slipped to sixth place in the points after a disappointing race when the car slowed on the final lap of the race. An all-podium performance at the second round of the championship by Richards elevated him into the points lead while Reid began a run of six consecutive races of top two race positions to take the championship lead after the third round, a round which had been dominated by Daniel Gaunt with three wins at the Townsville 400 weekend.

New Zealand driver Jonny Reid led the series after three rounds with a narrow four point gap over countryman Craig Baird. Steven Richards sat 41 points behind Reid who in turn was just two point ahead of Daniel Gaunt. Reid had won three races over the season thus far, as had Gaunt with Baird having won twice and Richards once.

## Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers contested the championship.

| Team | No | Driver |
| - | - | - |
| Dutton Insurance Racing | 1 | Craig Baird |
| Tinkler Motorsport | 5 | Nathan Tinkler Jeremy Gray |
| Skye Sands | 6 | Rusty French |
| McElrea Racing | 7 | Jonny Reid |
| McElrea Racing | 29 | Michael Patrizi |
| Twigg Motorsport | 8 | Max Twigg |
| Hallmarc Racing | 9 | Marc Cini |
| Hallmarc Racing | 10 | Michael Loccisano |
| Money Choice Motorsport | 11 | Matthew Coleman |
| Jim Richards Racing | 12 | Steven Richards |
| INCA Motorsports | 17 | Ray Angus |
| Andrew Barlow Motorsport | 18 | Andrew Barlow |
| Nexus Racing | 19 | Damien Flack |
| Team BRM | 20 | Ben Barker |
| Triple X Motorsport Melbourne Performance Centre | 27 | Daniel Gaunt |
| Supabarn Motorsport | 47 | Theo Koundouris |
| Supabarn Motorsport | 69 | James Koundouris |
| Jocaro Motorsport | 51 | Ross Lilley |
| Smollen Motorsport | 56 | Shane Smollen |
| Porsche Cars Australia | 60 | Mark Noske Mark Skaife Nick Foster |
| Racing Incident | 66 | Peter Hill Tim Leahey |
| 01 Motorsport | 88 | Simon Middleton |
| Paul Kelly Motor Group | 90 | Paul Kelly |

## Race calendar

| Round | Date | Circuit | Location | Winning driver |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 24–27 March | Albert Park Street Circuit | Melbourne, Victoria | Craig Baird |
| 2 | 30 April–1 May | Barbagallo Raceway | Perth, Western Australia | Jonny Reid |
| 3 | 8–10 July | Townsville Street Circuit | Townsville, Queensland | Daniel Gaunt |
| 4 | 16–18 September | Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit | Phillip Island, Victoria | Daniel Gaunt |
| 5 | 6–9 October | Mount Panorama Circuit | Bathurst, New South Wales | Michael Patrizi |
| 6 | 21–23 October | Surfers Paradise Street Circuit | Surfers Paradise, Queensland | Craig Baird |
| 7 | 2–4 December | Homebush Street Circuit | Sydney, New South Wales | Jonny Reid |

Each of the seven rounds was contested over three races.

## Points system

Championship points were awarded on a 60–54–48–42–36–32–29–26–23–20–18–16–14–12–11–10–9–8–7–6–5–4–3–2–1 basis to the first twenty-five finishers in each race.

## Results and standings

### Drivers' championship

| Pos. | Driver | ALB | ALB | ALB | BAR | BAR | BAR | TOW | TOW | TOW | PHI | PHI | PHI | BAT | BAT | BAT | SUR | SUR | SUR | HOM | HOM | HOM | Pen. | Pts. |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Craig Baird | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | Ret | | 980 |
| 2 | Jonny Reid | 1 | 6 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 3 | Ret | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 918 |
| 3 | Daniel Gaunt | 5 | 2 | 2 | Ret | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 12 | Ret | | 884 |
| 4 | Steven Richards | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 2 | Ret | 4 | 3 | | 882 |
| 5 | Ben Barker | 6 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 3 | Ret | 1 | 1 | Ret | | 755 |
| 6 | Michael Patrizi | Ret | 9 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | Ret | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | Ret | Ret | 5 | 3 | 1 | | 754 |
| 7 | Max Twigg | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Ret | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | | 581 |
| 8 | Matthew Coleman | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 4 | Ret | 17 | DNS | | 534 |
| 9 | James Koundouris | 10 | Ret | 10 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 11 | Ret | 8 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 13 | | 400 |
| 10 | Paul Kelly | | | | 8 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 8 | 11 | 10 | | 366 |
| 11 | Theo Koundouris | 11 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | | | | | | | 13 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 8 | | 340 |
| 12 | Damien Flack | 12 | 19 | 12 | | | | 9 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 10 | Ret | 10 | Ret | DNS | | | | | 272 |
| 13 | Marc Cini | 14 | 18 | Ret | 14 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 19 | Ret | 16 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 11 | Ret | 9 | | 255 |
| 14 | Simon Middleton | 16 | 14 | 14 | | | | 14 | 21 | 17 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 16 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 11 | | 254 |
| 15 | Michael Loccisano | 13 | 13 | 15 | DNS | 19 | 16 | 18 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 9 | Ret | 16 | 13 | 6 | | 239 |
| 16 | Shane Smollen | 15 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 19 | Ret | 15 | Ret | 11 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 11 | | | | | 232 |
| 17 | Ross Lilley | 17 | 16 | 17 | 15 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 13 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 14 | | 218 |
| 18 | Peter Hill | 8 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 14 | 11 | | | | 13 | 15 | 14 | | | | 11 | Ret | 10 | | | | | 197 |
| 19 | Ray Angus | 19 | 17 | 21 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 17 | 21 | Ret | | | | Ret | 17 | 15 | 17 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 12 | | 174 |
| 20 | Jeremy Gray | | | | | | | | | | 12 | 9 | 10 | 9 | Ret | 13 | | | | 12 | 14 | 7 | | 160 |
| 21 | Andrew Barlow | 18 | 15 | 18 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 15 | Ret | 15 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 103 |
| 22 | Rusty French | 20 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 17 | | | | | | | | | | | 96 |
| 23 | Tim Leahey | | | | | | | | | | | | | 7 | 7 | 7 | | | | | | | | 87 |
| 24 | Nathan Tinkler | 21 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 20 | 15 | 20 | 18 | 20 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 66 |
| Guest drivers ineligible for points |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| | Mark Skaife | 4 | 5 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| | Nick Foster | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 6 | 5 | 4 | | 0 |
| | Mark Noske | | | | | | | Ret | 12 | 9 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| Colour | Result |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | Second place |
| Bronze | Third place |
| Green | Points finish |
| Blue | Non-points finish |
| Blue | Non-classified finish (NC) |
| Purple | Retired (Ret) |
| Red | Did not qualify (DNQ) |
| Red | Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White | Did not start (DNS) |
| White | Withdrew (WD) |
| White | Race cancelled (C) |
| Blank | Did not practice (DNP) |
| Blank | Did not arrive (DNA) |
| Blank | Excluded (EX) |

### Professional Class

The Professional Class was won by Craig Baird from Jonny Reid and Daniel Gaunt.

### Elite Class

The Elite Class was won by Max Twigg from Paul Kelly and James Koundouris.

