Late How crash hands Emery Aus GT victory

Geoff Emery won the final Australian GT race of the weekend in Barbagallo after Ryan How crashed out while leading on the penultimate lap.

Emery rose from third to first in the closing stages as first Peter Major struck trouble and then How suffered a failure that saw him end his race in the tyre bundle at Turn 7.

The Audi driver went on to win the race with ease from Max Twigg and Mark Griffith, with Emery also taking out the overall round win.

Race 2 winner Major had started from pole and darted into and early lead, but was unable to extend the gap he needed to cover off the chasing pack come the pit stops.

Emery had slotted into second with How third, the Audi duo running nose to tail for much of the opening stint.

How’s shorter stop time saw the teenager emerge out front, though was quickly chased down by Major.

The pair then engaged in a tight battle for the lead, with How taking defensive lines and using traffic to his advantage.

A toe link failure on the front right corner of Major’s car on Lap 35 pitched the Western Australian off the road at Turn 4, and while he was eventually able to rejoin his race ended with a spin into the gravel two corners later.

With only a handful of minutes left in the 40-minute encounter race control elected not to deploy the Safety Car, and instead covered the incident under yellow flags.

Major’s exit left How with a sizeable advantage over Emery in second, who in turn had a more than three second advantage over Twigg in third.

However, when braking into the final corner at the end of the penultimate lap, How’s race came to an abrupt end when a failure in the front right saw him spear off the road and make heavy contact with the tyres.

It allowed Emery to take over as race leader for the final tour, winning his first race of the year over Twigg and Mark Griffith in third.

The result sees Twigg continue to lead the Australian GT Championship, though with a reduced margin of just eight points to Emery in second.

Phillip Island hosts the next round of the series, which switches into endurance mode, as part of the Shannons Nationals on June 7-8.

Result: Australian GT Round 2, Race 3