The field includes Supercars stars Chaz Mostert, Will Brown and Jaxon Evans who are back for more GT racing. Ferrari and Audi left Phillip Island with a win apiece.
Reigning GT Australia series winner Liam Talbot, along with Mostert, made the perfect start to go back-to-back by winning Race 1. They have a two-point advantage in the lead Arise Racing GT Ferrari 296 GT3 and will be backed by the second Ferrari driven by Elliott Schutte and Jaxon Evans.
The New Zealanders Tim Miles and Brandon Leitch snatched a thrilling Race 2 in the Team Melbourne Performance Centre Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo 2. One of their main competition was from their team-mates Brad Schumacher and Will Brown.
The Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Jayden Ojeda and improving Paul Lucchitti out-performed the Triple Eight Race Engineering Mercedes of Peter Hackett and Declan Fraser who left the island disappointed.
On home turf and completed test sessions with codriver Alex Peroni, will make Mark Rosser more competitive in the Team BRM Audi. Also among the Audis is Renee Gracie in her first race since her bombshell documentary aired. She again teams with Paul Stokell. Also in an Audi will be New Zealander Steve Brooks who partners with Nick McBride in a MPC entry.
The second round will have an additional manufacturer in a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 that will be run by Wall Racing and driven by Adrian Deitz and Tony D’Alberto. It will be first race for the car since its victory in its Silver Class debut at the Bathurst 12 Hour.
In Am Cup, brothers James and Theo Koundouris (Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3) have a one-point advantage over RAM Motorsport’s Michael Sheargold and Garth Walden, also in a Mercedes.
Third are Valmont Racing’s Marcel Zalloua and Sergio Pires (Audi) are four points away, ahead of MPC’s Ash Samadi and Marc Cini in a pair of Audis. The Bend will see the Black Wolf Motorsport Mercedes of Shane Woodman and Ben Schoots, repaired after its crash at Phillip Island.
The GT World Challenge Australia is part of the Shannons SpeedSeries at The Bend on May 31-June 2. All races can be viewed live and free on 7mate and streamed on 7plus. International viewers, including New Zealanders, can watch via the GT World YouTube channel.
Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS Round 2 entry list
No | Class | Driver 1 | Driver 2 | Team | Car |
1 | Pro-Am | Liam Talbot | Chaz Mostert | Arise Racing GT | Ferrari 296 GT3 |
7 | Pro-Am | Tim Miles | Brendon Leitch | Dayle ITM/Team MPC | Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 |
8 | Pro-Am | Elliott Schutte | Jaxon Evans | Arise Racing GT | Ferrari 296 GT3 |
9 | Am | Marc Cini | Hallmarc/Team MPC | Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 | |
16 | Am | Shane Woodman | Ben Schoots | Black Wolf Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
22 | Am | Ash Samadi | Team MPC | Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 | |
38 | Trophy | Darren Currie | Valentino Astuti | KMB Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage GT3 |
44 | Am | Marcel Zalloua | Sergio Pires | Valmont Racing/Tigani Motorsport | Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 |
45 | Am | Mike Sheargold | Garth Walden | RAM Motorsport/GWR Australia | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
47 | Am | James Koundouris | Theo Koundouris | Supabarn Supermarkets/Tigani Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
66 | Pro-Am | Paul Lucchitti | Jayden Ojeda | Realta/Tigani Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
81 | Pro-Am | Mark Rosser | Alex Peroni | Team BRM | Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 |
87 | Pro-Am | Brad Schumacher | Will Brown | Shaw & Partners/Kelso Electrical/MPC | Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 |
88 | Pro-Am | Steve Brooks | Nick McBride | Team MPC | Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 |
93 | Pro-Am | Adrian Deitz | Tony D’Alberto | Wall Racing | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 |
181 | Pro-Am | Paul Stokell | Renee Gracie | OnlyFans/Team MPC | Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 |
888 | Pro-Am | Peter Hackett | Declan Fraser | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |