A blistering effort from Tony D’Alberto landed Maranello Motorsport provisional pole position for the third round of the Australian GT Championship at Townsville.
The former full-time V8 Supercars driver, sharing the drive with television presenter Grant Denyer, was untouchable in the 20 minute session posting a 1:12.97s effort behind the wheel of the #88 Ferrari 458 GT3.
D’Alberto’s last gasp effort proved 0.8s quicker than the Ford GT piloted by Prodrive Racing Australia V8 Supercars co-driver Steve Owen, with the Audi R8 of Nathan Antunes in third.
However, the pole position remains provisional with the field set to take part in a second qualifying session on Saturday morning.
The McLaren 650S of Klark Quinn was fourth fastest just a fraction adrift of Clipsal 500 race winner Antunes, with the Trass Family Motorsport Ferrari 458 GT3, driven by Graeme Smyth, in fifth.
James Koundouris was sixth fastest in his Porsche GT3-R with the top 10 completed by Max Twigg (Erebus Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS), John Magro (Lamborghini Gallardo), Tony Quinn (McLaren 650S) and the returning Morgan Haber in the second Erebus Mercedes.
Buy tickets
The Australian GT Championship field will return to the Reid Park circuit at 07:35 tomorrow (Saturday) with the first of two, 46 lap races to begin at 11:55.
Result: Australian GT Championship Qualifying 1, Townsville
| 1 | Maranello Motorsport | Tony D’Alberto (Vic) | Ferrari 458 GT3 2014 | 1:12.97 | |
| 2 | Supaloc Racing | Steven Owen (Qld) | Ford GT 2011 GT3 | 1:13.40 | 00.83 |
| 3 | Skwirk / Beechwood Homes | Nathan Antunes (NSW) | Audi R8 Ultra | 1:13.47 | 01.19 |
| 4 | Darrell Lea | Klark Quinn (Qld) | McLaren 650S GT3 | 1:13.76 | 01.20 |
| 5 | Trass Family Motorsport | Graeme Smyth (NZ) | Ferrari 458 GT3 | 1:13.80 | 01.41 |
| 6 | Supabarn Supermarkets | James Koundouris (ACT) | Porsche 997 GT3-R | 1:14.16 | 01.51 |
| 7 | Max Twigg | Mercedes Benz AMG SL | 1:14.17 | 01.55 | |
| 8 | johnmagro.com | John Magro (Qld) | Lamborghini Gallardo | 1:14.38 | 02.30 |
| 9 | Darrell Lea | Anthony Quinn (Qld) | McLaren 650S GT3 | 1:14.48 | 02.68 |
| 10 | Morgan Haber (Qld) | Mercedes Benz AMG SL | 1:14.52 | 02.77 | |
| 11 | Objective Racing | Tony Walls (Qld) | McLaren 650S GT3 | 1:15.27 | 02.78 |
| 12 | JAMEC PEM Racing | Greg Crick (Tas) | Audi R8 Ultra | 1:15.65 | 02.98 |
| 13 | Interlloy M Motorsport | Justin McMillan (Vic) | Reiter Camaro GT3 | 1:15.74 | 03.01 |
| 14 | HHH Racing/Triffid/ESP | Michael Hovey (Qld) | Ginetta G55 GT3 | 1:15.75 | 03.06 |
| 15 | EVA Racing / Evolve Technik | Peter Fitzgerald (Vic) | Audi R8 Ultra | 1:15.96 | 03.09 |
| 16 | JAMEC PEM Racing | Steven McLaughlan (Vic) | Audi R8 Ultra | 1:15.98 | 03.16 |
| 17 | Supabarn Supermarkets | Theo Koundouris (ACT) | Porsche 996 GT3-S | 1:16.04 | 03.23 |
| 18 | Fastway Couriers | Matt Campbell (Qld) | Porsche GT3 Cup Car | 1:16.06 | 03.99 |
| 19 | AMAC Motorsport | Andrew Macpherson (NSW) | Porsche 997 GT3-R | 1:16.13 | 04.27 |
| 20 | JJA Consulting Group | Jan Jinadasa (Vic) | Lamborghini LP560-4 | 1:16.20 | 04.42 |
| 21 | Hogs Breath Cafe | Mark Griffith (Qld) | Audi R8 LMS | 1:16.97 | 04.53 |
| 22 | Maranello Motorsport | Adrian Deitz (NSW) | Ferrari 458 GT3 | 1:17.24 | 04.82 |
| 23 | Flying B Racing | Peter Edwards (Vic) | Bentley Continental | 1:17.39 | 04.84 |
| 24 | Fire Rating Solutions | Matthew Turnbull (Vic) | Lamborghini LP-560 G | 1:17.50 | 04.96 |
| 25 | Voight Contracting | Steve Voight (Qld) | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | 1:17.79 | 05.03 |
| 26 | DPM Motorsport | Dale Paterson (Vic) | Reiter Camaro GT3 | 1:17.81 | 05.76 |
| 27 | Motor School | Ben Foessel (Qld) | Ginetta G50Z | 1:17.94 | 07.39 |
| 28 | Adina Apartment Hotels | Greg Taylor (NSW) | Audi R8 LMS | 1:18.00 | 07.41 |
| 29 | SAFE-T-STOP | Richard Gartner (NSW) | Porsche GT3 Cup Car | 1:18.74 | 07.50 |
| 30 | Donut King | Tony Alford (Qld) | Lotus Exige Cup R | 1:20.36 | 11.79 |
| 31 | Walz Group | Brendan Cook (Qld) | Porsche GT3 Cup Car | 1:20.38 | |
| 32 | Thomson Geer Lawyers | Michael O’Donnell (SA) | Porsche GT3 Cup Car | 1:20.47 | |
| 33 | Killer Racing | Wayne Udy (Qld) | Porsche GT3 Cup Car | 1:24.76 |
Discussion about this post