The Triple Eight Race Engineering #888 Mercedes AMG of Prince Jefri Ibrahim and Broc Feeney took victory in the Saturday race of Round 4 of the GT World Challenge Australia Championship at The Bend Motorsport Park. Feeney, who was subbing in for Shane Van Gisbergen in the #888, put in a stellar final stint to overcome a 15-second time penalty due to an incident for Prince Jefri earlier in the race, making the pass for the lead on the last lap.
The #888 had started from pole in the hands of Prince Jefri Ibrahim, but it was the championship leader Yasser Shahin in the #1 The Bend Motorsport Park Audi R8 who had the best start from the front row of the grid, leading the field into turn 1. Ibrahim attempted to dive to the inside on the entry to turn 1, but only managed to make contact with the rear right of Shahin’s Audi, pitching it into a spin and dropping Shahin to the rear of the field. This left Prince Jefri out in front, but with a 15-second penalty added to the #888’s pit stop, followed by Liam Talbot in the #20 Shannons Insurance Audi, then a second car for Triple Eight Race Engineering, the #88 with Abu Bakar Ibrahim co-driving with Jamie Whincup in third.
Shahin recovered through the field to latch onto the rear of the #88, while Talbot hassled the rear of the #888. A moment in traffic saw Talbot briefly take the lead; Ibrahim hesitated through the sweeping turn 10 while trying to pass the #19 Daimler Trucks Brisbane Mercedes GT4 of Mark Griffith, opening the door for Talbot to come alongside into turn 11. The pair made contact, with Talbot shooting through the grass at turn 12 and rejoining just behind Ibrahim.
Ultimately Talbot would get the lead, making a commanding move into turn 1 the following lap. Shahin made his way back to third, passing the #88 at the same corner, as Talbot set the fastest lap in the lead, trying to stretch an advantage to offset the 10-second longer compulsory pit stop time for car #20.
All of the front runners pitted at the earliest opportunity, with Fraser Ross now at the head of the field with a 5-second gap over the #88 of Jamie Whincup, with Garth Tander a further 10 seconds behind, and the 15-second time penalty for the #888 dropping Broc Feeney down to 4th, 20 seconds from the lead. Whincup quickly got onto the tail of Ross, putting the #20 under immense pressure, but Ross was able to keep Whincup at bay with pace down the main straight and into turn 6. It was Feeney who was the fastest on track, taking chunks out of the gap to the lead, setting the fastest lap in the process, catching the battle with one lap remaining.
Triple Eight Race Engineering swapped their cars, allowing Feeney a straight shot at Ross for the lead of the race. A great run through the final corner saw the #888 roar into the wheel tracks of the #20, and a late lunge to the inside at turn 1 saw Feeney outmuscle Ross on the exit, taking the lead with less than a lap to go. Feeney immediately broke away, winning by 2 seconds in a stellar drive.
Ross managed to hold on for second, keeping Whincup at bay for the entire final stint. Whincup brought the #88 home third, giving Abu Bakar Ibrahim a great result on his championship debut.
Garth Tander and Yasser Shahin finished fourth in the #1 The Bend Motorsport Park Audi, after they were pinged for undercutting the minimum pit stop time. 5th place and winning the Am class was Ross Poulakis in the #101 Harrolds Racing Mercedes AMG, ahead of the #6 Wall Racing Lamborghini Huracan of Adrian Deitz and Tony D’Alberto.
The second of the Am class runners was the Sheargold/Walden pair in the #45 GWR/RAM Motorsport Mercedes in 7th, followed by the pair of KFC Audis; Higgon and Stokell in the #2 ahead of Stoupas in the #23. Pires and Zalloua completed the top 10 and won the Trophy category in the #44 Valmont Racing Mercedes, ahead of Kokkinos in the #8 Launch Racing Audi R8, while GT4 went the way of the #19 Daimler Trucks Brisbane Mercedes of Mark Griffith and Nash Morris, ahead of the #102 Harrolds Racing Mercedes of Batzios and Brabham.
Race 2 was scheduled to take place on Sunday at midday local time, but constant heavy rain all of Sunday saw track action halted, with other categories affected during the day. Ultimately, with the terrible conditions of the last round at Sandown still fresh in the minds, the second race of the weekend was called off.
With the win, Prince Jefri Ibrahim steps into second place in the GTWC Australia championships, more than halving the deficit to Shahin, now at only 11 points. Talbot sits 3 further points behind, as the series switches to Endurance mode for next month’s Bathurst International, with a 3-hour race at The Mountain. The GT World Challenge Australia will finish on the streets of Adelaide, on December 1-4.
