Ahead of the Phillip Island GT Festival on April 4-6, Speedcafe examines the strongest driver line-ups.

In no particular order, here are who we reckon are the favourites for the title.

Brad Schumacher

As last year’s runner-up, it stands to reason that Brad Schumacher would be among the favourites to win this year’s title.

He and Will Brown were a formidable combo and were two-time race winners in 2024.

A DNF at Queensland Raceway wasn’t the killer blow for their title credentials, but there is something to be said about scoreboard pressure and momentum.

Schumacher and Brown had more wins together than Mostert and Talbot, but single-digit scores hurt their run to the finish. By contrast, Mostert and Talbot had just one race where they scored less than double digits. Schumacher and Brown had three.

The Bathurst-based driver will have Brown back for select events, sharing co-drive duties with Triple Eight teammate Broc Feeney.

Feeney showed he’s capable in the Audi R8 LMS after a last-minute call-up for the Bathurst 12 Hour earlier this year, and he comes with a heap of GT3 experience.

How will Schumacher win the crown? Like all good title runs, consistency will be key.

Jaxon Evans/Elliott Schutte

Arise Racing’s #26 Ferrari 296 was there or thereabouts in 2024. Evans and Schutte wound up third in the championship, which felt about right given how they ran all year long.

Evans and Schutte often found themselves in podium contention and by the season’s end were race winners.

Will the absence of Mostert and Talbot make a difference for better or worse? There’s no questioning Evans’ pace in GT3 cars.

In any case, the Brad Jones Racing Supercars driver and his co-driver Schutte will need to take a stride forward to be regular race winners.

Brendon Leitch/Tim Miles

Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe champion Brendon Leitch was the surprise packet of 2024.

Paired with established GT driver Tim Miles, the pair were often in the hunt for victories last season and scored a sensational win at Phillip Island in just their second race together.

Mistakes ultimately cost them a shot at the title, with a swathe of penalties for various indiscretions regularly taking them out of contention for wins.

Sixth in the standings was by no means representative of their outright speed. Leitch was, without doubt, among the quickest drivers alongside Mostert and Brown.

The Kiwi’s impressive pole position effort on his Mount Panorama debut before commanding the first stint was his standout solo performance. Ultimately, a pit lane penalty robbed them of the win that day and summed up their season.

There’s no doubting this pair’s pace. For Leitch and Miles to win the title with Melbourne Performance Centre this year, they’ll have to be mistake-free to have any chance.

Declan Fraser/Liam Talbot

Talbot has been the Am to beat in GT World Challenge Australia the last two seasons. After wins with Audi and Ferrari, he’s vying for a third title with a third different manufacturer.

Talbot moves to Volante Rosso Motorsport this year, bringing former Triple Eight Race Engineering driver Declan Fraser with him.

So what are their chances? On paper, it’s a speedy combination. If anything, the only question is the car.

Volante Rosso took the lion’s share of 2024 to get over reliability issues, but the team showed the Aston Martin Vantage has speed in spades at this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour – though mechanical dramas dogged them and they couldn’t convert pace into a Silver class win.

The team is disadvantaged in so much that the Vantage is not the latest specification offered by Aston Martin. However, as the Audi teams have shown, age is just a number.

What about the rest?

The likes of Alex Peroni, Jayden Ojeda, Jordan Love, and factory-supported Porsche driver Dorian Boccolacci are excellent talents in their own right, but their ability to win the title might just be reliant almost entirely on the speed of their co-drivers.

Peroni was a race winner at Queensland Raceway with Mark Rosser, albeit in a chaotic race that took several contenders out of the picture – and only won when Leitch was handed a 10-second post-race penalty.

Ojeda was a race winner in the Endurance Cup with Paul Lucchitti with a bold strategy that caused confusion but wound up with them winning at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Love has a ton of international GT3 racing experience, as does his co-driver Steve Wyatt, and could prove to be the smokey.

Then there’s Boccolacci. He’s a talented Porsche driver, but translating that into wins may depend on how quickly Shane Smollen gets up to speed in the 911 GT3 R.

When is the GT Festival at Phillip Island?

The first round of GT World Challenge Australia will take place at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit from April 4-6.

How to buy SpeedSeries Phillip Island tickets

Tickets for the GT World Challenge Australia season opener at Phillip Island on April 4-6 are available via the SpeedSeries website. CLICK HERE to buy your tickets via SpeedSeries.

GT World Challenge Australia Phillip Island entry list

What are the support classes at Phillip Island?

GT World Challenge Australis is the headline act at the GT Festival, supported by Monochrome GT4 Australia, Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge, Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Australasia, and First Focus Radical Cup Australia.

Phillip Island SpeedSeries schedule

How to watch the SpeedSeries at Phillip Island

The Shannons SpeedSeries will be live and exclusive on 7mate or 7Plus Sport. Friday’s practice will not be broadcast.

Saturday’s coverage begins at 1:30pm AEDT on 7mate and concludes at 5:00pm AEDT. It’s the same schedule on Sunday, save for a change of timezone with the end of daylight saving.

Extended coverage will be on 7plus Sport.

Who are the SpeedSeries commentators?

The commentary team will be led by Greg Rust, Richard Crail, Chris Stubbs, and Isabella Leembruggen. They’ll be joined by Supercars driver Thomas Randle.

Five commentators revealed for new-look SpeedSeries