The Method Motorsport pair capitalised on a fortunately-timed Safety Car during the pit stop cycle to vault up the field.
The result was a relief for the pair, having visited the podium on several occasions throughout 2025, but never quite able to find the top step.
With the win, Rintoule becomes the first woman to win outright in GT4 Australia. Zoe Woods has the honour of being the first female to win her class in GT4 Australia.
“We got a lot of seconds last year but unfortunately no firsts, so this is the first of hopefully many this year for us,” said Rintoule.
Hughes joked post-race about being worried that Ryder Quinn was catching in the closing laps.
“I saw him [Quinn] get past the Supra [Nick McBride] so I thought ‘I better pull my finger out a little bit’,” Hughes said.
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“I’m stoked, I’m absolutely stoked.
“We did the whole year last year getting every second and third podium there was, and we didn’t get the win, so to get this, to be fair, with how the weekend’s gone so far is unreal.”
The BMW of Quinn and Steve Jakic were second, falling just 2.6s short of back-to-back outright glory at The Bend.
Quinn and Jakic took the Silver-Am Cup victory ahead of McBride/Dean Koutsoumidis, third place outright and second in class.
Nathan Callaghan/Chris Lillis took the win in the Am Cup, coming home in 19th position outright, capitalising on a tough restart for Peter Lawrence.
Daniel Frougas and Jobe Stewart led the way in the early laps, with Lochie Dalton in the mix for the lead.
Dalton and Aaron Cameron were the favourites to take the win, as the Audi of Stewart and Blake Purdie was the only car of the lead group with additional pit stop time from the Race 1 win.
Struggling with outright speed alongside the other McLaren runners, Rintoule was circulating in 19th position when the safety car was drawn.
Ryan Sorensen spun at Turn 6, collecting Glenn Nirwan, leaving the latter stranded on the corner exit.
The yellow flag flew at the perfect time for the back half of the field to enter the pit lane, leaving the lead group to pit a lap later, losing significant track position.
Despite having no extra pit stop time, Cameron emerged in 16th due to being blocked in the pits.
Purdie re-entered the circuit in 22nd position, while Jake Camileri was the highest-placed of the initial lead group, emerging in ninth spot.
Tony D’Alberto led the field to the restart, with Hughes forced to defend from faster cars behind.
Hughes took the lead on the following lap, forcing D’Alberto back to third.
Quinn charged through the top five, but McBride was able to hold off the young charger for several laps, allowing Hughes to build a handy lead.
D’Alberto held on to fourth spot in the Mustang shared with Jarrod Keyte.
Cameron charged through the field to round out the top five alongside Dalton.
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