Of boxes with hot pace

was good; we’ll now see what tomorrow brings.”

For Evans, it was the first time he hadn’t claimed victory on the Darwin track following a 2017 clean sweep in his rookie season, while fellow young gun Dylan O’Keeffe placed third.

TAG Heuer Pro-Am reigning champion Stephen Grove was the quickest Pro-Am driver in qualifying, while Adrian Flack joined Grove at the front of the class in race one.

Grove led the class until lap 13, when Flack moved to the lead and eventually took his maiden Pro-Am victory in his rookie Carrera Cup season.

“I started racing in Porsches years ago in GTs with my younger brother. It’s just a matter of getting back into it and learning about this car and how it works,” Flak said.

“I think we’re starting to get there now.” JUSTIN Ruggier held off hard charging duo Bryce Fullwood and Joel Heindrich to take race one of the Aussie Racing Cars Drive the NT Challenge at Hidden Valley yesterday.

In an exciting three-way battle, the lead changed multiple times over the 10-lap dash, with Ruggier managing to secure the lead on the last lap.

Leigh Bower finished fifth, while Paul Morris was fourth across the line. And it was Morris who got the jump early in race two, charging through from P5 to take the lead into turn one.

He held first place for the next lap, but was slowly overcome by Fullwood and Ruggier. A five-car battle emerged, with Craig Woods entering the fray, but it was Ruggier who again came out on top.

Darwin product Fullwood said he was happy with the way he performed in both races.

“It was a very close race between the top three,” he said.

“I managed to come out second both times. I’m very happy there, we are in the hunt. It’s more just about being in the right place at the right time and racing smart.

“I’m doing all I need to do at the moment, so I’m pretty pleased.”

Race three today will be a top-10 reverse grid, a grid based on the finishing order of race two, but with the top 10 reversed.

Race three starts at 10.05am, while race four, which encompasses a progressive grid, begins at 4pm.