Shell V-Power Motorsport Park played host to the penultimate round of the Monochrome GT4 Australia Championship, with the 4.95km circuit just out of Adelaide putting on a great weekend’s weather for racing.
With four races left in the season, the #35 Miedecke Motorsport Mustang pair of Miedecke and Gray led the championship coming into the round, with a slim 11-point buffer over the #25 Method Motorsport pairing of Hayman and Geoghegan. The Bend’s twisty layout was expected to provide a balanced challenge with a long main straight allowing the larger-displacement cars to stretch their legs, while the technical top end of the circuit allowed the nimbler cars to shine.
Qualifying 1 saw the top 3 separated by less than a tenth of a second, with Jarrod Hughes putting the #87 JGI Triple Eight Racing Mercedes on pole with a 1:54.4284. Zac Soutar was only 0.05 behind, putting the #75 Tufflift Racing McLaren into second, with the #25 Method Motorsport McLaren of Tom Hayman in third. Their main rivals in the #35 Miedecke Motorsport Mustang could only manage 7th on the grid, 3 tenths back from the pole time.
In qualifying 2, it was a different story; Max Geoghegan topped the time sheets in the #25 Method Motorsport McLaren, but was joined on the front row by George Miedecke, to put the two championship rivals up front right next to each other.
Max Geoghegan powers through to win for #25 Method Motorsports McLaren
A stellar second stint from Max Geoghegan saw the #25 Method Motorsport McLaren take the win for Race 1, with Geoghegan winning from their main championship rival, the #35 Miedecke Motorsport Mustang. The 7-point swing brought the points gap after race 1 of the weekend down to only 4 points.
Geoghegan was given the car down in 7th place and over 15 seconds from the lead, but worked his way through the pack, following George Miedecke in the #35 Mustang through the field. As the pair approached the lead battle, Geoghegan made an incredible move to take third, driving the McLaren Artura around the outside of Miedecke at Turn 17. From there, he was able to pass Glenn Nirwan’s #75 Tufflift Racing TSM McLaren on the main straight, before chasing down and passing Summer Rintoule for the lead at turn 14; the #87 JGI Triple Eight Racing Mercedes held the lead for only a single lap, having just passed Nirwan at turn 14 the previous tour.
Geoghegan was untroubled for the last 10 minutes of the race, taking the victory ahead of their main championship rivals; The #35 Miedecke Motorsport Mustang finishing just behind in second place, after George Miedecke managed to pass Rintoule with 2 laps left.
The result was what the Method Motorsport crew were hoping for, given their qualifying performance; however, a poor start from Hayman saw the #25 McLaren drop outside the top 10 at the green flag. Hayman stabilised and started working his way back through the opening stint, clawing his way back to 8th, while Zac Soutar dominated the first stint in the #75 Tufflift Racing TSM McLaren. Soutar held off Jarrod Hughes at the wheel of the #87 JGI Triple Eight Mercedes, while the best mover of the first stint was Ryder Quinn, who moved the #3 Thunder Buddies/TekworkX BMW from 14th to 4th in the first half of the race.
Soutar handed the #75 McLaren over to Nirwan, who outperformed his Am rating, stretching his advantage over Rintoule to over 2 seconds. But once Rintoule started to get into her groove, and with the looming threat of Miedecke and Geoghegan behind, the gap began to come down. Rintoule took the lead at Turn 14, just as Geoghegan and Miedecke tacked on to the back of the leaders, and from there Geoghegan managed to carve a path into the lead.
Winning Silver-Am was the #27 Multispares Mustang of Cameron and Hansford, as Nirwan and Soutar dropped down to second in class, and 7th overall. Winning Am was the #32 Randall Racing BMW of Jacob Lawrence, continuing his strong run of form over the last few races, finishing just outside the top 10 overall.
Ryder Quinn’s stunning drive wins Race 2 for Thunder Buddies/TekworkX
The Silver-Am class #3 Thunder Buddies/TekworkX BMW took overall victory in Race 2 thanks to a stunning drive from Ryder Quinn, who tore through the field in his stint. After starting the race down in 24th position, Steve Jakic was able to navigate around an early incident to gain 7 positions off the first lap, but it was Quinn who was the star of the race.
The #3 was one of the first cars to jump into the pits, giving Quinn the maximum opportunity to make positions through the field, and he immediately got to work. He broke the lap record on his first flying lap, setting a 1:56.9 to be the first GT4 into the 1:56’s around The Bend, before lowering that mark again, and again, down to a 1:56.4. Once the pit window had closed, Quinn was in 7th, with still plenty of work to do.
While the #25 Method Motorsport McLaren and the #48 Purdie Racing Audi battled for the lead, Quinn scythed through the pack – first passing Rylan Gray in the #35 Miedecke Motorsport Mustang, before cutting through the Silver-Am lead-battle; The #71 Gommersall Motorsport Mustang fighting with the #118 DA Campbell Transport Mustang. Hughes was next, with the #87 JGI Triple Eight Mercedes unable to defend from Quinn at Turn 6.
Tom Hayman had just taken the lead in the #25 Method Motorsport McLaren with a wild move around the outside of the uphill sweeping Turn 13, pushing the #48 Purdie Racing Audi into second. Down the front straight just a lap later, he could do nothing but watch as the #3 Thunder Buddies/TekworkX BMW streamed past to take the lead. From there, Quinn was untouchable, bringing the BMW to the line with a comfortable buffer to take the first win for Thunder Buddies/TekworkX.
Despite losing out on overall honours, The #25 Method Motorsport McLaren maintained the win for the Silver class, and with it the 25 points. Max Geoghegan held onto the lead from pole in the opening sequence of corners despite the pressure of George Miedecke in the #35 Miedecke Motorsport Mustang, as the two lead the field off the grid. Unfortunately, a spin at Turn 6 further down the pack brought out a Safety Car, and eliminated three cars from the race.
Jake Camilleri spun his #36 Gommersall Motorsport Mustang in 6th position, and left Tim Leahey nowhere to go, as Leahey clattered into the side of the stricken Mustang. Leahey’s #22 BMW was out on the spot, and also caught up was the #62 Wallis Motorsport Mustang of Altzman.
Once the race got back underway, Geoghegan attempted to stretch out a lead over Miedecke to offset the extra 5 seconds the #25 would need in the pits thanks to winning yesterday’s race. Come the pit sequence, the gap was only 3.4 seconds, but a timing glitch in the #35 Mustang saw them stationary for longer, allowing the #25 McLaren to hold onto the lead, while the #35 Mustang rejoined down in 6th.
It wasn’t all plain sailing, though, for Hayman in the #25 – a wide moment at Turn 3 saw him lose the race lead, before Quinn’s charge put the race win out of reach. Ultimately, the second place overall doesn’t matter for the class points, with the #25 Method Motorsport McLaren taking maximum points for the weekend.
Third was the #87 JGI Triple Eight Racing Mercedes, while the #35 Miedecke Motorsport Mustang rounded out the Silver podium, down in 6th overall. Silver-Am Mustangs in the #71 Gomersall Motorsport and #27 Multispares examples finished in 4th and 5th, respectively.
In Am, the #777 Method Motorsport Porsche of Callaghan and Lillis took the win in a hard-fought battle with the #32 Randall Racing BMW of Lawrence, ultimately prevailing by less than a second.
With only one round left of the championship, the perfect weekend from the Method Motorsports #25 crew sees Hayman and Geoghegan wrestle the championship lead from the #35 Miedecke Motorsports Mustang. 7 points is the gap, with 52 points on offer at the season finale, which takes place at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, on October 31st – November 2nd.
Images courtesy of GT4 Australia
