The Porsche of Andrew MacPherson and Brad Shiels took a comfortable victory in the opening Australian GT Championship race at the Castrol Edge Townsville 400.
Shiels emerged in the lead following the mandatory pit stops which he converted into a victory by 10.7s from a hard charging Grant Denyer (Maranello Motorsport Ferrari 458 GT3), with Tony Quinn (McLaren 650s) in third.
The polesitting Trass Family Motorsport Ferrari 458 GT3 had led the first half of the race with Jono Lester at the wheel, but he was unable to build a sizeable lead due to the introduction of the Safety Car in the early stages.
His early seven second lead was wiped out when the race was neutralised to recover the stationary Justin McMillan Chevrolet Camaro.
Lester had led the Maranello Motorsport Ferrari of Tony D’Alberto until the pair came in for their compulsory stops within a lap of each other.
The pair rejoined in 17th and 12th positions respectively with Graeme Smyth and Grant Denyer at the wheel.
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However, virtue of a strong run in the first half of the race and less time spent in the pits, the Porsche of MacPherson and Shiels emerged in the lead after the pit stops.
The duo were relatively unchallenged in the second half of the race as they went on to take the chequered flag.
There was plenty of action behind as Denyer fought his way from outside the top 10 to finish second with a late overtake on Quinn, who drove a strong race throughout to finish third.
The Max Twigg/Geoff Emery Erebus Mercedes SLS finished fourth ahead of Nathan Antunes in the Skwirk Audi R8.
Canberra’s James Koundouris brought his Supabarn Supermarkets Porsche home in sixth, with the Lamborghini Gallardo of John Magro seventh.
Smyth produced an impressive stint to guide the Trass Ferrari in eighth, while the Jamec-Pem Racing Audi R8s of Chris Mies/Greg Crick and Steven McLaughlan completed the top 10.
The Kevin Weeks/Steve Owen Ford GT claimed the honours in the Trophy Class with Michael O’Donnell the star of the Challenge Class.
Result: Australian GT Championship Race 1, Townsville
| 1 | AMAC Motorsport | A.Macpherson/B.Shiels | Porsche 997 GT3-R | 46 | 01:01:06.3583 |
| 2 | Maranello Motorsport | T.D’Alberto/G.Denyer | Ferrari 458 GT3 2014 | 46 | 01:01:17.1424 |
| 3 | Darrell Lea | Anthony Quinn (Qld) | McLaren 650S GT3 | 46 | 01:01:22.6431 |
| 4 | M.Twigg/G.Emery | Mercedes Benz AMG SL | 46 | 01:01:27.3198 | |
| 5 | Skwirk / Beechwood Homes | Nathan Antunes (NSW) | Audi R8 Ultra | 46 | 01:01:27.7067 |
| 6 | Supabarn Supermarkets | James Koundouris (ACT) | Porsche 997 GT3-R | 46 | 01:01:29.0753 |
| 7 | johnmagro.com | John Magro (Qld) | Lamborghini Gallardo | 46 | 01:01:29.5475 |
| 8 | Trass Family Motorsport | J.Lester/G.Smyth | Ferrari 458 GT3 | 46 | 01:01:29.7954 |
| 9 | JAMEC PEM Racing | C.Mies/G.Crick | Audi R8 Ultra | 46 | 01:01:34.4735 |
| 10 | JAMEC PEM Racing | Steven McLaughlan (Vic) | Audi R8 Ultra | 46 | 01:01:36.8180 |
| 11 | Darrell Lea | Klark Quinn (Qld) | McLaren 650S GT3 | 46 | 01:01:37.0444 |
| 12 | Objective Racing | Tony Walls (Qld) | McLaren 650S GT3 | 46 | 01:01:47.1056 |
| 13 | EVA Racing / Evolve Technik | Peter Fitzgerald (Vic) | Audi R8 Ultra | 46 | 01:01:47.9427 |
| 14 | Morgan Haber (Qld) | Mercedes Benz AMG SL | 46 | 01:01:56.1525 | |
| 15 | Supaloc Racing | K.Weeks/S.Owen | Ford GT 2011 GT3 | 46 | 01:01:59.4620 |
| 16 | JJA Consulting Group | Jan Jinadasa (Vic) | Lamborghini LP560-4 | 46 | 01:02:01.2465 |
| 17 | Supabarn Supermarkets | Theo Koundouris (ACT) | Porsche 996 GT3-S | 45 | 01:01:07.9442 |
| 18 | Hogs Breath Cafe | Mark Griffith (Qld) | Audi R8 LMS | 45 | 01:01:20.2950 |
| 19 | Maranello Motorsport | Adrian Deitz (NSW) | Ferrari 458 GT3 | 45 | 01:01:26.6871 |
| 20 | Adina Apartment Hotels | G.Taylor/B.Mawer | Audi R8 LMS | 45 | 01:02:02.2745 |
| 21 | DPM Motorsport | Dale Paterson (Vic) | Reiter Camaro GT3 | 44 | 01:01:23.9659 |
| 22 | Fire Rating Solutions | Matthew Turnbull (Vic) | Lamborghini LP-560 G | 44 | 01:01:46.4756 |
| 23 | Thomson Geer Lawyers | Michael O’Donnell (SA) | Porsche GT3 Cup Car | 43 | 01:01:13.0957 |
| 24 | SAFE-T-STOP | Richard Gartner (NSW) | Porsche GT3 Cup Car | 43 | 01:01:14.5202 |
| 25 | Voight Contracting | S.Voight/S.Taylor | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | 43 | 01:01:16.3235 |
| 26 | Flying B Racing | P.Edwards/J.Bowe | Bentley Continental | 43 | 01:01:59.0874 |
| 27 | Fastway Couriers | S.Ellinghham/M.Campbell | Porsche GT3 Cup Car | 43 | 01:02:02.6642 |
| 28 | Donut King | Tony Alford (Qld) | Lotus Exige Cup R | 42 | 01:01:18.7421 |
| 29 | Killer Racing | Wayne Udy (Qld) | Porsche GT3 Cup Car | 40 | 01:01:50.6806 |
| DNF | Interlloy M Motorsport | Justin McMillan (Vic) | Reiter Camaro GT3 | 7 | 9:08.9302 |
| DNF | Walz Group | Matt Kingsley (Qld) | Porsche GT3 Cup Car | 7 | 9:26.1645 |
| DNF | Motor School | Ben Foessel (Qld) | Ginetta G50Z | 6 | 8:12.6494 |
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