Round 4 of the GT World Challenge Australia Championship took the series to Sydney Motorsport Park, around the fast, flowing 3.910km circuit. The series saw the return of the two Triple Eight Race Engineering Mercedes AMGs, back from competing in the GT World Challenge Asia round that clashed with the last GTWC Aus round at Phillip Island. They were immediately on the pace, with Richie Stanaway setting the fastest lap in Practice 2 in the #888, with the sister car in third, split by the EMA Motorsports/The Bend Motorsport Park Porsche.
Problems for Michael Kokkinos in the MC Labour #8 Audi saw that car not make qualifying, while the OnlyFans #181 Audi of Renee Gracie also missed qualifying after a gearbox issue, although that car was able to be repaired and was on the grid for Race 1 on Saturday.
Qualifying 1 for the Am drivers saw Liam Talbot in the #65 Shannons Audi smash the field by almost a full second, taking pole with a 1:28.1797. He was joined on the front row by Yasser Shahin in the #1 EMA Motorsport/The Bend Motorsport Park Porsche, setting a 1:29.1090. Also in the 29’s was Geoff Emery in the #75 Jamec Racing Audi, and Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim at the seat of the #88 Triple Eight Race Engineering Mercedes, with his brother Prince Jefri Ibrahim in the #888 qualifying 5th, just outside the 1:29’s. Brad Schumacher took Am pole, qualifying 6th overall, while Trophy pole went to Paul Lucchitti in the #66 Realta/Tigani Motorsport Audi R8 LMS Ultra.
Qualifying 2 saw a cracking lap from Jayden Ojeda putting the #101 Harrolds Racing/Volante Rosso Motorsport Mercedes AMG on pole after the chequered flag had fallen, with a 1:26.7325. His lap just pipped the pair of Triple Eight Race Engineering Mercedes AMGs; Richie Stanaway in the #888 with a 26.88, just ahead of Jamie Whincup in the #88 with a 26.95, setting up a Mercedes AMG 1-2-3. Garth Walden put the #45 RAM Motorsport Mercedes into Am pole and 5th place overall, while the front row from qualifying 1 were well down the order; Fraser Ross’s lap only good enough for 8th in the #65 Shannons Audi, while Garnet Patterson put the #1 EMA Motorsport/The Bend Motorsport Park Porsche into 6th.
Race 1
Sunny and cool conditions greeted the field for race 1 on Saturday afternoon, with Talbot getting the jump on the field and swinging around the outside of the first corner to claim the lead for the #65 Shannons Audi, with Yasser Shahin following behind in the #1 Porsche.
They would break away from the field, with Emery in the #75 Jamec Racing Audi trailing, and Prince Jefri Ibrahim in the #888 Triple Eight Mercedes getting the jump on his brother for fourth. Prince Abu Bakar seemed to struggle in the first stint, with a train of Audis – Pires in the #44 Valmont Audi, Schumacher in the #55 Kelso Electrical Audi, and Stoupas in the #23 KFC Audi – stalking the Mercedes through the first stint. It took almost 15 minutes, but Abu Bakar finally yielded, getting passed by Pires into turn 6, before both Schumacher and Stoupas blew past in the first sector. For Schumacher, trying to build a gap over Stoupas was paramount in the Am-class battle, as Schumacher had a longer pit stop to take after winning last round out at Phillip Island.
The battle out front had stretched away from the field to the tune of 13 seconds, with Talbot leading Shahin by only 3 seconds ahead of the pit stops, and with 5 seconds shorter to take in the pit stop. However, the EMA Motorsports team elected to put 2 new tyres on the Porsche, which enabled Garnet Patterson, now installed in the #1 Porsche, to reel in Fraser Ross in the #65 Audi quickly after the stops, making the pass for the lead at the hairpin at Turn 2.
But the fastest driver on track was Richie Stanaway. Despite the #888 Triple Eight Race Engineering Mercedes exiting the pits over 15 seconds behind the leaders, Stanaway took chunks of time out of the pair, setting a new GT3 Lap Record at SMP in the process. He passed Ross for second with 15 minutes remaining, and had cut the gap to the lead to only 1.5 seconds with 10 minutes to play. Patterson smartly managed his tyres and responded, managing to hold Stanaway behind into the final passages of the race.
Into the last 5 minutes and Stanaway was right on Patterson’s tail. A quick middle sector saw Stanaway almost send the dive into the Turn 8 hairpin with 3 minutes left, but Patterson was wise to the move and slammed the door shut. A lap later, both drivers ran wide out of the final corner, dropping the rear right wheel off the kerb and into the gravel in unison as they eked the maximum performance out of the cars. The pair was rapidly approaching traffic and on the penultimate lap, a 5-car battle for 11th, almost spoiled the party.
Patterson managed to slip through the Marcel Zalloua in the #44 Valmont Audi in the opening sector, while Stanaway got baulked into turn 4. Two corners later, Patterson had the door slammed on him by Ash Samadi in the #22 Team MPC Audi, allowing Stanaway back onto the bumper. The pair both went around the outside of the #66 Realta Audi of Lucchitti at the hairpin, Patterson hugging close to the Audi to leave no room for Stanaway to pick his way through. Patterson again couldn’t find a way past Samadi in the final corner, backing him into Stanaway and the pair ran nose to tail to start the final lap. A forceful move at Turn 2 finally gave Patterson some breathing space, and he managed to fire past Theo Koundouris in the #47 Supabarn Mercedes at turn 6, giving him enough of a gap to hold on to take a thrilling victory. The gap between the #1 EMA Motorsport Porsche and the #888 Triple Eight Race Engineering Mercedes at the line, only 0.364.
Ross held on to third in the #65 Shannons Audi, and Max Hofer brought the #75 Jamec Audi home in 4th. Jayden Ojeda survived a wild moment at turn 1, skating across the gravel and glancing the tyre barrier on the outside, to finish 5th in the #101 Harrolds/Volante Rosso Mercedes, just ahead of the second of the Triple Eight Mercedes; Jamie Whincup recovering after a spin passing traffic early in the stint. 7th overall and winning Am was the #23 KFC Audi pair of Matt Stoupas and Paul Stokell, with second in Am Brad Schumacher finishing in 9th, falling back after the pit stops.
Trophy went the way of Renee Gracie in the #181 Onlyfans Audi, with the only Invitational and GT4 entries also making the finish; David Crampton and Trent Harrison bringing their KTM X-Bow GT2 home in 17th, and Mark Griffith bringing the Mercedes GT4 home in 18th.
Sunday morning’s Race 2 got underway with a bang – Max Hofer starting from third in the #75 Jamec Audi got the best start of the leaders, and tried to squeeze between Ojeda and Stanaway on the front row. Slight contact with the rear of the #101 Harrolds/Volante Rosso Mercedes put Ojeda into a slide, tagging the right hand side of Stanaway’s #888 Triple Eight Race Engineering Mercedes in the catch, while Hofer caught a slide of his own before making contact with the inside wall. This caused a concertina effect on the field, with more contact further down, including a moment for David Russell in the #48 MMotorsport Mercedes AMG, tagging the #45 GWR/Ram Motorsport Mercedes of Garth Walden – both Mercedes AMG’s spinning through the first corner and into the gravel.
The biggest loser of the opening lap fracas was Stanaway, who limped back to the pits with a puncture. The #888 managed to get back on track, albeit a lap down, before pulling back into the pits some time later – the damage proving terminal. Hofer was given a 5s penalty for his role in the incident, to be taken in the pit stop.
Ojeda managed to maintain control of his AMG despite the contact and lead the opening stanza of the race, with Whincup slotting into second in the #88 Triple Eight Race Engineering Mercedes. Hofer recovered after his moment to charge down the leaders, breaking the GT3 lap record in the process with a 1:27.4001. He managed to pass Whincup for second, and caught up to the back of Ojeda, who defended long enough for the tyres to cry enough on Hofer’s Audi, blunting his charge.
The pit window opened, and saw Fraser Ross bring in the #65 Shannons Audi from 4th place early in the window. Liam Talbot jumped in the car with four new tyres, and had the time to bring those tyres up to temperature and pressure in clear air while the Pro-drivers continued their battle at the head of the field. Once the pit stops had cleared, Ross Poulakis held the lead in the #101 Harrolds/Volante Rosso Mercedes, with a 6 second buffer over Geoff Emery in the #75 Jamec Audi, thanks in part to the 5s penalty. Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim held third in the #88 Triple Eight Race Engineering Mercedes a further 9 seconds back, with Talbot in 4th, 8 seconds off the podium.
But Talbot was on a charge, setting lap times in the mid 1:28’s while those ahead on aging tyres could only manage 1:30 or 1:31 lap times. In a flash Talbot was on the tail of Abu Bakar, and was through. Only 2 laps later and the Shannons Audi replaced the Jamec Audi in second, and with 8 minutes still on the clock, Talbot set up Poulakis through the final corner, and powered past on the main straight, taking the lead after starting the stint over 20 seconds behind.
Talbot was untouchable after taking the lead (Pictured top), pulling out to a 15 second advantage and cruising home to take a comprehensive victory – the first with Fraser Ross this season. Ross Poulakis held on for second in the #101 Harrolds/Volante Motorsport AMG, while the battle for third went down to the penultimate lap. Geoff Emery was clearly struggling for grip, sliding on acceleration out of corners, but managed to hold Abu Bakar back for a series of laps. The pair survived a scary moment when the #47 Supabarn Audi of Theo Koundouris had a huge lose through the fast turn 1, completing two full rotations on the tarmac immediately ahead of the battle for third, Emery only just sneaking through on the inside. Ultimately, Emery’s tyres could not hold on, and Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim made the pass into Turn 2, putting the #88 Triple Eight Mercedes onto the podium.
Saturday’s winners Patterson and Shahin in the #1 EMA Motorsport/The Bend Motorsport Park Porsche finished in 5th, while Am honours went the way of Brad Schumacher in the #55 Kelso Electrical Audi in 6th overall. Trophy class went the way of Renee Gracie in the #181 Onlyfans Audi, while both the Invitational-class MMotorsport #50 KTM X-bow GT2 and GT4-class Griffith Racing #19 Mercedes GT4 made the finish.
Third and first for the weekend sees Liam Talbot take the GT World Challenge Australia Championship lead, on 141 points, just ahead of Max Hofer on 139 points. Saturday’s win vaults the Yasser Shahin/Garnet Patterson pair into third, on 129 points. Brad Schumacher extends his lead in the Am category, as does Renee Gracie in the Trophy class.
There’s a short turnaround for GTWC Australia, with Round 5 bringing the teams to Queensland Raceway on August 11-13th, only 2 weeks away, before the season finale on the streets of Adelaide in November.
Pics copyright GT World Challenge Australia
