Tony Quinn starred in the fifth round of the Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli held at Sandown over the weekend.
He was able to keep his title chances alive as he took two wins from the three 40 minute races. Muscat took the other win in race two.
Coming into the event, Tony along with Klark Quinn and Richard Muscat held a relasitic shot at taking the Championship.
Now with just one round to go, the Highlands Park 101 in New Zealand, it has become a two horse race with Tony Quinn in his Aston Martin and Muscat in the Erebus Mercedes SLS GT3 still being in the race.
Klark’s weekend ended early on Friday when he clipped a curb, sending his McLaren heavily into the barriers. While Klark emerged from the wreck without injury, the McLaren couldn’t be repaired a the track. Klark rarely damages cars but this was a most inopportune time for the reigning champ.
It left Tony Quinn, Muscat, the Lamborghini of Justin McMillan and David Russell along with the Maranello Ferrari 458 GT3 of John Bowe and Peter Edwards to challenge at the front.
In qualifying it was the Lamborghini that again took the honours, breaking the lap record with a 1:08.814, some three tenths faster than Muscat.
Muscat’s run would also end early, hitting the barriers in qualifying, the damage looked bad but was only superficial.
“It was my fault,” he admitted with frustration. “It turned out we had a right rear tyre failure after I ran over a screw in the paddock on the way to the grid, but it coincided with a traction-control issue too. It spun me around on the exit, and I was just a passenger.”
The first race was a lot quieter than the qualifying sessions. The main action came in the second half of the race. Due to his ‘Master’ seeding, Muscat had a pitstop that was some 20 seconds longer than the remaining Quinn, putting him at a distinct disadvantage.
It allowed Quinn to drive his own race with Muscat racing hard against McMillan in the Lamborghini in the final laps. Muscat would take second by a close margin with McMillan and Russell showing their pole speed was not a fluke by taking third.
“I could see him [Muscat] coming, and he was quick,” Tony Quinn said. “We had some good pace too, and I could punch out 1:09s when the traffic was good, but he’s certainly quick through the back-markers.”
Muscat would get his own back in race two, waiting until the end of the pit window to make his stop. The strategy worked well as he was able to build a lead and come out in clear space.
Russell in the Lamborghini looked to be a match for Muscat’s Mercedes but a tyre failure after clipping too many curbs ended his efforts for victory.
Like race one, the second race was clean with the exception of a first lap clash between Kevin Week’s Ford GT and the Audi of Steve McLaughlan – the impact bent the Audi’s steering and ended its race.
It was Muscat’s race however, taking a comfortable win from Tony Quinn and the Bowe/Edwards Ferrari.
Race three saw Tony Quinn return to the front. Muscat may have taken the advantage from the start but he couldn’t build up a sufficient lead to overcome his mandatory pit stop time and would lose out to Quinn.
Like in race one, Quinn ran his own race, knowing that keeping Muscat in sight would enable him to take out the race.
“I just tried to set a steady pace and keep Richard within sight,” Quinn said post-race. “I knew that if I stayed close, we could come out ahead of him after the stop and then it was just a matter of hanging on until the flag. I didn’t expect to see the flag come a lap early, but that’s what happens with these time sensitive races on the V8 super car program, that’s the way it goes.”
After taking three wins in five races, Quinn is the form driver going into the final round.
Race three reflected race one with Muscat taking second and the McMillan/Russell car taking third place.
It was a great weekend for the Lamborghini, finally transforming great qualifying pace into race pace.
“This has been a great weekend for the M-Motorsport team,” McMillan admitted. “Personally I’ve gained about 1.2 seconds on my personal best around here, and felt great running with the leaders. Dave did a fantastic job in Richos [Steve Richards] absence, and showed that we’re well and truly capable of running at the front.”
In GT Trophy, Dean Koutsoumidis/James Winslow (Audi R8 LMS) took out all three races.
Ben Foessel consolidated his championship position in the GT Challenge class with three class wins in his Porsche GT3 Cup.
Mark Griffith in the Ginetta G50 GT4 took race one but Tony Martin took out races two and three in his Ginetta in the GT Sports category.
Results and points
Rnd#5: 2014 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli
, Sandown Park Raceway, Melbourne, Race#1 (40-minutes)
(13 September)
1. Tony Quinn (GT – Aston Martin Vantage GT3) – 26-laps
2. Richard Muscat (GT – Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3)
3. Justin McMillan/David Russell (GT – Gallardo FL2 GT3)
4. John Morriss (GT – Porsche GT3-R)
5. Ross Lilley (GT – Gallardo FL2 GT3)
6. Dean Koutsoumidis/James Winslow (GTT – Audi R8 LMS GT3)
7. John Bowe/Peter Edwards (GT – Ferrari 458 Italia GT3)
8. Rod Salmon/Nathan Antunes (GTT – Audi R8 LMS GT3)
9. Steve McLaughlan (GT – Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra)
10. Jan Jinadasa/Daniel Gaunt (GTT – Lamborghini Gallardo LP520) – 25-laps
11. Michael Hovey/Matt Campbell (GTT – Porsche GT3 Cup)
12. Jim Manolios/Ryan Millier (GT – Ferrari 458 Italia GT3)
13. Kevin Weeks (GTT – Ford GT)
14. Ben Foessel (GTC – Porsche GT3 Cup)
15. Simon Ellingham (GTT – Porsche Type 997 GT3 Cup)
16. Brendan Cook/Matt Kingsley (GTC – Porsche GT3 Cup)
17. Mark Griffith (GTS – Ginetta G50 GT4) – 23-laps
18. Tony Martin (GTS – Ginetta G50 GT4)
DNF. Andrew Macpherson (GT – Porsche 997 GT3-R) – 23-laps
DNF. Ockert Fourie/John Magro (GTT – Audi R8 LMS GT3) – 21-laps
DNF. Indiran Padayachee (GTC – Porsche GT3 Cup) – 20-laps
DNS. Klark Quinn (GT – McLaren MP4-12C)
Rnd#5: 2014 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli
, Sandown Park Raceway, Melbourne, Race#2 (40-minutes)
(13 September)
1. Richard Muscat (GT – Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3) – 32-laps
2. Tony Quinn (GT – Aston Martin Vantage GT3)
3. John Bowe/Peter Edwards (GT – Ferrari 458 Italia GT3)
4. John Morriss (GT – Porsche GT3-R)
5. Dean Koutsoumidis/James Winslow (GTT – Audi R8 LMS GT3)
6. Rod Salmon/Nathan Antunes (GTT – Audi R8 LMS GT3)
7. Ross Lilley (GT – Gallardo FL2 GT3) – 31-laps
8. Justin McMillan/David Russell (GT – Gallardo FL2 GT3)
9. Jim Manolios/Ryan Millier (GT – Ferrari 458 Italia GT3)
10. Michael Hovey/Matt Campbell (GTT – Porsche GT3 Cup)
11. Ben Foessel (GTC – Porsche GT3 Cup)
12. Kevin Weeks (GTT – Ford GT) – 30-laps
13. Brendan Cook/Matt Kingsley (GTC – Porsche GT3 Cup)
14. Tony Martin (GTS – Ginetta G50 GT4) – 29-laps
15. Mark Griffith (GTS – Ginetta G50 GT4) – 28-laps
16. Jan Jinadasa/Daniel Gaunt (GTT – Lamborghini Gallardo LP520) – 27-laps
DNF. Simon Ellingham (GTT – Porsche Type 997 GT3 Cup) – 30-laps
DNF. Steve McLaughlan (GT – Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra) – 11-laps
DNF. Ockert Fourie/John Magro (GTT – Audi R8 LMS GT3) – 7-laps
DNS. Andrew Macpherson (GT – Porsche 997 GT3-R)
DNS. Indiran Padayachee (GTC – Porsche GT3 Cup)
Rnd#5: 2014 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli, Sandown Park Raceway, Melbourne, Race#3 (40-minutes)
(14 September)
1. Tony Quinn (GT – Aston Martin Vantage GT3) – 31-laps
2. Richard Muscat (GT – Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3)
3. Justin McMillan/David Russell (GT – Gallardo FL2 GT3)
4. John Bowe/Peter Edwards (GT – Ferrari 458 Italia GT3)
5. John Morriss (GT – Porsche GT3-R)
6. Ross Lilley (GT – Gallardo FL2 GT3)
7. Dean Koutsoumidis/James Winslow (GTT – Audi R8 LMS GT3)
8. Kevin Weeks (GTT – Ford GT) – 30-laps
9. Rod Salmon/Nathan Antunes (GTT – Audi R8 LMS GT3)
10. Jim Manolios/Ryan Millier (GT – Ferrari 458 Italia GT3)
11. Steve McLaughlan (GT – Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra)
12. Andrew Macpherson (GT – Porsche 997 GT3-R)
13. Michael Hovey/Matt Campbell (GTT – Porsche GT3 Cup)
14. Indiran Padayachee (GTC – Porsche GT3 Cup)
15. Simon Ellingham (GTT – Porsche Type 997 GT3 Cup)
Sam Tickell
Photos courtesy – John Morris – MPix/Australian GT
