Harri Jones opened his 2026 Porsche Equity-One Carrera Cup Australia campaign in the best possible way, winning the round at the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park after a consistent weekend with McElrea Racing.
The two-time champion's weekend was also a personal milestone, with the opening race marking his 100th Carrera Cup championship start.
Jones marked the occasion with a podium. In race one he passed David Russell at Turn 11 on the second lap and held off Marcus Amand on the final lap to finish third behind Clay Osborne, who claimed his first series win, and Dylan O'Keeffe.
Race two produced another third place. Amand passed Jones on lap two on his way to victory, with O'Keeffe again second, and current or former Carrera Cup champions filling the top three.
Jones saved his best for the final race on Saturday night. He fended off long-time rival O'Keeffe for much of the race. Amand then passed O'Keeffe under brakes at Turn 11 for second and put Jones under pressure in the closing stages, but the McElrea driver held on for the win.
The result gave Jones the round victory, the 10th round win of his Carrera Cup career. O'Keeffe finished second in the final race and missed the round win by only a few points, while Amand was third for the round.
Osborne, Aaron Love, Glen Wood, Angelo Mouzouris, Max Geoghegan, Jake Santalucia and McElrea team-mate Lockie Bloxsom completed the race three top 10 behind Jones, O'Keeffe and Amand.
Jones left Melbourne leading the championship, with O'Keeffe and Amand within four points of him. Osborne and Wood completed the top five.
In the Pro-Am class, Matt Belford took a clean sweep of the weekend.
The seven-round series resumes at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin in June.
Sources: carreracup.com.au, carreracup.com.au, carreracup.com.au, carreracup.com.au
