Nick Percat drove the Coates Hire Racing Porsche Carrera to a close second place behind Steven Richards, in the opening race of the Porsche Carrera Cup round at Albert Park.

After a sensational qualifying run that saw Percat secure his second consecutive pole position, Richards got the better start as Percat bogged down with wheelspin off the line. Then on the run down to Turn 3, Craig Baird and Percat touched with Baird coming out on top into turn four. This allowed Richards to open a small gap, which Baird and Percat cut back, with the top three running nose to tail.

On lap four Percat forced his way past Baird, with the pair clashing  once again. This time, Percat got the upper hand and set out after Richards. Percat and Richards battled hard over the closing laps, but it was Richards who crossed the line just half a second in front of Percat, with Baird another half a second behind in third.

After the race Percat said: Another strong performance by Coates Hire Racing. I got too much wheel spin off the line which allowed Richo (Steven Richards), to grab the lead into turn one, then Craig Baird and I wanted the same piece of road at turn three resulting in a bit of push and shove.

The pace of the Coates Hire car was excellent and I was able to catch and then re pass Baird for second at half race distance. I had a crack at taking the lead on the last couple of laps, but in the end settled for second.