Former Rally star Mark Griffith is a two-time champion in the GT Sports category of the Australian GT Championship, a class he dominated between 2013-2014, before stepping up into a 2011-spec Audi last year to battle for Trophy class honours, claiming two round wins and second outright in the championship.
This year though sees another step up. “I loved every minute of driving the Audi last year, and it really pushed me to become a better driver,” Griffith explained, “but watching the outright GT3 cars drive away from you out of the corners was a little frustrating.
“I looked at a few options for this year, spoke to my sponsors, and then started to hunt down a car, the biggest problem though was that most of the new 2016-spec cars had already been committed, but a chance discussion with Erebus Motorsport’s Barry Ryan revealed an opportunity I just couldn’t pass up.”
A big fan of the Mercedes product – and the owner of multiple vehicles from the Daimler brand through Griffith Corporation’s transport operation – Griffith decided that the new AMG GT3 would be the perfect platform to launch his assault on the Australian GT Gold Cup.
“I decided the only way to do this was go the ‘whole hog’ so we bought the right car, and teamed with the 2014 championship winning team,” he explained. “With the way the driver gradings and parities are arranged for Australian GT, there’s no reason why I can’t be right in the mix at the pointy end of the field, and in the battle for the new Gold Cup award for Amateur drivers.”
Griffith will contest every round of the Australian GT ‘sprint’ series, and also plans to compete in the Australian Endurance Championship with New Zealander Daniel Gaunt a likely candidate to fill the co-driver’s seat.
“I’m excited,” Griffith admitted with a wry grin. “The car is fantastic, I’ve already tested at Phillip Island and circulated faster than I’ve ever been around there and with relative ease. I’m under no illusions of how hard it is going to be, because the field this year includes an array of very talented local and international drivers, but the way AGT is structured, consistency can play a very big part, so there’s absolutely no reason why we can’t be right in the title chase.”
Griffith comes into the 2016 season with a fresh livery for the Mercedes AMG GT3, a livery that relies on some serious punch from the stunning carbon-fibre bodywork, with the design largely untainted with the exception of the now iconic ‘big pig’ – the growling Hog’s Breath mascot in deferance to long-time backers the Hog’s Breath Cafe – whilst the car will also sport support from Daimler Trucks Newcastle, Vawdrey Trailers and Griffith Corporation.
