Cooper Murray has nabbed another clean sweep in the Porsche PAYCE & Michelin Virtual Cup’s penultimate round at Le Mans - getting closer to the virtual series title in the process.
Murray has been a class above the rest during the series’ five rounds so far and, despite facing a number of tough races in the latest round, he continued to defy expectations and brush off all challenges.
In the first race, Murray started from pole but soon found himself in fourth place behind Cody Burcher, Matt Campbell and Matthew Payne, with most of the race still to go.
As the race went on and the four continued to create a healthy buffer over the rest of the field, Murray eventually got past Payne and waited patiently as the two in front were embroiled in a thrilling contest.
However, their duel went too far and the duo made contact, which opened up the door for Murray and Payne to cruise to a one-two finish ahead of Burcher, who edged out Campbell for third.
With Murray and Payne leading the way in the second race, a mistake from the Kiwi runner-up saw him fall down the field, leaving Burcher as the one to challenge Murray for the lead.
For the next few laps the two scraped it out, but Burcher once again found himself down the order as a result of contact with Murray, only this time he wasn’t able to recover. As Murray comfortably crossed the line, 2019 Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia winner Harri Jones finished the race in second place ahead of Campbell.
The round’s final race turned out to be Murray’s most comfortable victory of night as he led from start to finish, while Jones had his hands full with Payne for much of the race, until the latter ended up off track, allowing Jones to easily move into second.
Burcher managed to take out the final spot of the podium, ending his unfortunate night on a high.
In the Pro-Am class, Jaidyn Job and Marc Cini enjoyed a nightlong battle with the former grabbing the opening two races, before Cini bounced back in the third and final race to win.
It was a tough end for Job, who ran wide on the first turn and was unable to recover or finish on the podium - A fate shared by Graham Williams, who had finished third for the class in the first two races. Rounding out the Pro-Am podium on the final race was Sergio Pires and Matthew Belford.
Porsche fans can watch the round’s highlights at 8pm AEST on Friday 3 July via Porsche Motorsport Australia’s social media platforms and YouTube Channel.
The final round of the Porsche PAYCE and Michelin Virtual Cup will take place at Silverstone on 13 July.