Monochrome GT4 Australia joined the Shannons Speedseries for Round 3 of the championship at Queensland Raceway. The 3.126km circuit, nicknamed ‘The Paperclip’, saw a 27 car entry from the GT4 Australia field, with a few entries missing after significant damage at The Bend. The Mustangs of the #1 Gommersall Motorsport and #118 Method Motorsport were absent, with both still being repaired after monster shunts during Round 2.
Saturday Morning’s qualifying got underway in clear conditions, and saw a tight battle at the front of the field. Blake Purdie set the pole time in a frantic qualifying, putting the #48 Purdie Racing Audi on pole by almost a quarter of a second over a pair of Method Motorsport McLarens – the #87 of Jarrod Hughes ahead of the #25 of Tom Hayman – with the top 14 cars within one second of the leader. Notably, championship contenders in the #35 Miedecke Motorsport Mustang and the #27 Multispares Mustang were well down the field; George Miedecke put the #35 into 12th place, while Aaron Cameron could only manage 15th in the #27.
Jett Murray set the pole for Qualifying 2, hitting a 1:12.86 in the #25 Method Motorsport McLaren, a tenth of a second ahead of Mason Harvey in the #227 Multispares Racing Mustang. While the #35 Miedecke Motorsports Mustang had a better qualifying, making it onto the 3rd row, it was another poor session for the #27 Multispares Racing Mustang, buried in the mid pack in 15th.
Race 1
Saturday’s Race 1 took place on the edge of sunset, with lights ablaze on the warm up lap as the overcast skies hung an ever-present question of rain around the track. It was Blake Purdie who took the #48 Purdie Racing Audi off the line and into turn 1 in the lead, as the field raced through the opening laps. The biggest mover of the bunch was the #28 Nonorganic Proteins Porsche, with Caleb Paterson jumping from 5th on the grid to end the opening lap in second place in the leading Silver-Am car.
Patchy rain kept hitting the circuit – never enough to confidently jump to wets – but the on-and-off nature meant variable grip levels almost every lap. After Patterson’s strong start, he started to drop back as the more confident runners of Jarrod Hughes and Tom Hayman brought their #87 and #25 Method Motorsport McLarens to the head of the field.
Hayman was then caught out by a brief shower in Turn 1 and broke into a massive slide, somehow managing to keep it out of the gravel, but dropping the #25 McLaren down to 8th place.
Not so lucky was the #6 Method Motorsport Porsche of Cy Pearson, who was caught out by the conditions and speared off deep into the gravel trap at Turn 6, beaching the Porsche and bringing out the safety car, right on the edge of the pit window.
After two laps circulating under the Safety Car, the entire field chose to pit. Despite the changing conditions, no-one switched to wets, as darkness set in across the track.
Great work in the pits vaulted the third-placed #9 GWR Australia Toyota Supra into the lead of the race, with Chris White leading the #28 Nonorganic Proteins Porsche, now with Scott Green behind the wheel, while the first-stint leading #48 Purdie Racing Audi dropped to third place. The big losers from the pit sequence were those who held additional pit stop time for success at the previous race at The Bend; the #87 Method Motorsport McLaren dropped from second down to 14th, while the #27 Multispares Mustang was right behind them in 15th.
As the cars got back underway, the combination of cold tyres, a wet track, and new drivers behind the wheel saw a chaotic return to racing, with plenty of cars running wide, overshooting corners, or involved in spins. Notably, the #35 Miedecke Motorsports Mustang of Blake Tracey went around at the final corner, while the #87 Method Motorsport McLaren also dropped down the order after a tour through the grass.
The race couldn’t settle into a rhythm, and was back under SC again when the #5 Morris/McElrea Racing BMW came to a stop at Turn 6 after a spin. With the field under the control of the Safety Car again, ribbons of rain pounded the circuit, only to completely disappear once the call to green was given again.
It was only another 5 minutes of racing before another SC was called for another incident at Turn 6 – this time a multi car incident that saw the leading Silver Am #28 stranded on track and dropping to the rear of the field.
The #114 Team Soutar McLaren was spun on the entry to Turn 6 by the #62 Wallis Motorsport Mustang, with the McLaren ending up facing oncoming traffic in the mid corner. Trying to power out of the spin, Jack Johnson ended up perpendicular to the road, blocking in the #36 Gommersall Motorsport Mustang and the #28 Nonorganics Proteins Porsches, dropping them down the field.
Despite minor incidents of contact, all of the cars involved were able to continue, however the #62 Wallis Motorsports Mustang was pinged 15 seconds for their role in the incident.
With 5 minutes left on the clock, and the rain looking to be done for the evening, the race got back underway. While White and Stewart were away at the head of the field, the battle for third was on between the #46 RENNEN Motorsport Porsche of Shearer and the #25 Method Motorsport McLaren, with Jett Murray behind the wheel. The pair were nose to tail for the last few laps of the race, with Murray bumping the rear of the Porsche for much of the last lap, trying to find a way through.
Out front, it was Chris White who brought home the #9 GWR Australia Toyota home for the win, just over a second ahead of Jobe Stewart in the #48 Purdie Racing Audi. Jensen Shearer held on for third in the #46 RENNEN Motorsport Porsche, while the #25 Method Motorsport McLaren and the #27 Multispares Racing Mustang rounded out the top 5.
Winning the Am class was the #64 Method Motorpsort Porsche of Callaghan and Lillis, who kept out of trouble to finish in the top 10 overall, just ahead of the lead Silver-Am class runners, the #88 CAMM Quarries/Concrete racing Toyota of Evennett and Torti.
There was late drama at Turn 4, with the #87 Method Motorsports McLaren dropping a wheel onto the grass in the braking zone, and spinning to the inside, collecting the #58 Murphy Racing by TSM Mercedes and skittleing the #6 Method Motorsport Porsche and the #11 Method Motorsport McLaren. The #58 was stuck on the outside of the track at T4, but was covered by local yellows, while the #87 Method Motorsport McLaren was pinged 5 seconds for their role in the incident, and finished in 24th – a far cry from their race win in the previous race.
Race 2
A clear and sunny afternoon greeted the teams for Race 2 on Sunday, which saw the top 3 in the championship involved in an incident on the first lap of the race. After starting 4th on the grid, the #48 Purdie Racing Audi of Jobe Stewart was tagged into a spin at Turn 3 by the #35 Miedecke Motorsport Mustang. Stewart came to a stop in the middle of the track, and was tagged by the #7 Slatterys/McElrea Racing BMW of Jay Murray, while the #27 Multispares Racing Mustang took to the gravel to avoid the Audi.
There was further incident, with the slow #7 BMW getting collected by the #88 CAMM Quarries/Concrete Racing Toyota, which launched Andrew Torti’s Supra into the air, and broke the front-left upright on the BMW, which ultimately ground to a halt.
The #7 was retired out on track, while the #88 made it back to the pits before being retired in the garage. The #35 Miedecke Motorsport Mustang picked up a puncture from the incident but was able to continue, and was then given a drive through penalty for their role in the incident, dropping them off the lead lap. Despite a puncture the #48 Purdie Racing Audi managed to escape the incident without major damage, and was able to rejoin the safety car train on the lead lap.
The race got back underway with the pole-sitting #25 Method Motorsport McLaren leading the field away, followed by the #227 Multispares Mustang and the #9 GWR Australia Toyota at the head of the field. Unfortunately for the #9 GWR Supra, a damaged radiator started causing overheating issues for the car, and Race 1’s winners were forced to bring the car into the garage, and out of the race.
Tom Hayman controlled the race from the lead in the #25 Method Motorsports McLaren, while further back, Jobe Stewart put in a great recovery drive to return the #48 Purdie Racing Audi to the top 10 before the pit window opened.
An attempted undercut by the #227 Multispares Racing Mustang put some pressure on the #25 McLaren out in front, but the Method Motorsport team was able to return the #25 back to the head of the race – Jett Murray now behind the wheel – with a gap of 2 seconds in hand.
Try as he might, Cam McLeod couldn’t breach the gap to the leader, and the #25 Method Motorsport McLaren of Murray and Hayman took Race 2 for their second race win of the season. The #227 Multispares Racing Mustang of McLeod and Harvey finished in second, while it was a great recovery from the #87 Method Motorsport Mustang pair of Rintoule and Hughes to finish in third after a difficult Saturday race.
The #46 RENNEN Motorsport Porsche of Jensen Shearer finished 4th, while the #62 Wallis Motorsport Mustang of Paley and Wallis rounded out the top 5.
Further afield, championship challengers #27 Multispares Mustang and the #48 Purdie Motorsport Audi finished in 9th and 10th respectively, while the #35 Miedecke Motorsport Mustang finished down in 23rd, 2 laps down.
Winning Silver-Am was the #28 Nonorganic Proteins Porsche of Green and Paterson, while Glenn Walker won the Am class in the #14 Gommersall Motorsport Mustang, finishing in 12th.
The victory in race 2 catapulted Hayman and Murray to the lead of the Monochrome GT4 Australia Championship, with the #25 Method Motorsport pair on 76 points; an 11 point gap over the #27 Multispares Mustang pair of McLeod and Harvey. The #227 Multispares Mustang pair of Cameron and Dalton sit third, a further 5 points back, while the #48 Purdie Racing Audi and #35 Miedecke Motorsports Mustang are tied for fourth, on 58 points.
Monochrome GT4 Australia returns next month for the GT Festival at Hidden Valley, Darwin, on the 24th-26th of July.
