Mostert, Hobson take GTWC poles at Phillip Island

Chaz Mostert and Brett Hobson have taken the pole positions for Round 1 of Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS at Phillip Island.

Hobson drove his Trophy class #96 Nissan GT-R to the fastest time in Qualifying 1, which sets the starting grid for the first hour-long race of the weekend, before the big guns were let loose in Qualifying 2.

It was then that Mostert prevailed in Liam Talbot’s #65 Audi R8 LMS, with Shane van Gisbergen earning second on the grid for the Triple Eight Race Engineering entry which he is sharing with Prince Jefri Ibrahim.

The #65 Audi will be on the front row for Saturday afternoon’s first race also, with Talbot falling just short of Hobson’s fastest lap in Qualifying 1, while Ibrahim is set to start from 12th in the #888 Mercedes-AMG GT3.

The #1 Audi of 2021 champion Yasser Shahin and factory driver Christopher Mies was qualified fourth for Race 1 by the former and third for Race 2 by the latter.

Qualifying 2

Brenton Grove was quickest straight out of the blocks in Qualifying 2 when he set a 1:30.5884s on the only hot lap of his first run in the #4 Porsche.

Mies put the #1 R8 LMS on top next time around with a 1:28.5784s, but Mostert beat that with a 1:28.1354s on his third flyer.

Mies, van Gisbergen, and Mostert were all back into the pits just after the 10-minute mark but, as it turned out, only the former two would be back out for a second run.

David Reynolds moved up to third on the timing screen with a 1:28.7777s in Tony Bates’ #24 Audi R8 LMS in the 15th minute, shuffling Car #888 back to fourth.

Van Gisbergen then went fastest to the second sector and ultimately completed the lap in a time of 1:28.2412s, rising to a provisional second on the grid.

The 2021 Supercars champion went quickest to the first sector on his following lap but lost time in the second and ultimately pitted before he got back to the control line, bringing an end to his afternoon.

Mies managed a 1:28.4764s in the closing minutes although that served only to consolidate third on the grid for the #1 Audi.

Reynolds remained fourth, with the first Am class entry on the grid to be the #2 Audi of Gary Higgon and Paul Stokell in fifth spot, thanks to the efforts of the latter.

Rounding out the top 10 were Tony D’Alberto (#6 Lamborghini, Pro-Am), Grove (Pro-Am), Hobson, Garth Walden (#45 Mercedes-AMG, Am), and Brad Schumacher (#55 Audi, Trophy).

Qualifying 1

Earlier in Qualifying 1, Hobson was the pace-setter as soon as the first flyers were done, clocking a 1:31.1992s.

Talbot briefly grabbed top spot with a 1:31.1036s next time around, but Hobson hit back immediately with a 1:30.3876s.

The Nissan driver had one last improvement in him when he set a 1:30.1906s on his fourth flyer, before putting his cue in the rack just beyond the halfway mark.

Talbot’s personal-best was only a 1:30.4490s at that point, but he threatened to snatch pole away from Car #96 when he went fastest to the second sector in the final minutes.

However, he broke the beam at the control line in a time of 1:30.2907s, then consolidated second spot further with a 1:30.2308s just before the chequered flag.

Stephen Grove ended up third on a 1:30.4678s in the #4 Porsche while Shahin was a late mover to fourth with a 1:30.4682s.

Rounding out the top 10 were Schumacher, Matt Stoupas (#23 Audi, Am), Tony Bates (#24 Audi, Pro-Am), Mark Rosser (#17 Audi, Am), Vince Muriti (#33 Mercedes-AMG, Trophy), and James Koundouris (#47 Audi, Am).

Ibrahim qualified the Triple Eight entry 12th with a 1:33.1050s.

That is the grid for Race 1, which starts tomorrow at 13:45 local time/AEDT as part of the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships.

Stan Sport’s live and ad-free coverage starts at 11:00 AEDT.

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Results: Qualifying 2

Results: Qualifying 1

Classes: GTP Pro-Am, GTA Am, GT3 Trophy, GT4 GT4