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Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge
Jordan Love has taken a comfortable victory in Race 1 of Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge at Queensland Raceway, and with it the 2017 Jim Richards Endurance Trophy.
Love took the chequered flag first to bag a third JR Trophy win from three, ahead of Brenton Grove and Anthony Gilbertson.
Safety Car periods effectively bookended the 40-lap race at the Shannons Nationals meeting, locking in Grove as the early race leader after he made a superior start from the outside of the front row.
The yellows flew before the first lap was out when fourth-placed Brett Boulton had a rear lock-up at Turn 3 and became trapped in the gravel, his car incurring race-ending damage when it swiped the wall.
Racing resumed on Lap 8, with the top two quickly pulling clear of Gilbertson and the chasing pack.
Love applied constant pressure to Grove until he made the move on Lap 10 at Turn 6, and was not troubled again.
The Safety Car was called again with four laps remaining when Shane Barwood and Rob Woods went off together at Turn 3 while battling over eighth position.
The race ended as such with Love, Grove, Gilbertson, John Karytinos, and Sam Shahin the top five.
John Morriss was sixth, Ross McGregor seventh, Brendan Cook won the Class B battle in eighth, one position ahead of his class rival David Greig, and Tony Martin rounded out the top 10.
Round 5 will conclude with two sprint races tomorrow at 1000 and 1245 local time/AEST.
Australian GT Trophy
Richard Gartner has qualified on pole for the first of tomorrow’s two Australian GT Trophy races.
Gartner lapped Queensland Raceway in a best time of 1:10.28s in his Lamborghini LP560, 0.13s faster than Rod Salmon in his Audi R8.
Steve McLaughlan (Audi R8) and Wayne Mack (Ferrari 458) will start off row two, ahead of Jan Jinadasa (Lamborghini LP560) and the first of the MARC entrants in Jake Camilleri.
Audi R8 drivers Matt Stoupas and Travers Beynon are both out after tripping over each other and making heavy contact with the wall on the back straight during practice, though both drivers themselves are unharmed.
Stoupas had moved over and slowed to avoid fluid being dropped by Salmon when Beynon arrived unaware of the problem.
A pair of 50 minute races take place tomorrow at 0900 and 1145.
Australian Production Cars
Grant Sherrin has given he and Iain Sherrin pole position for this evening’s Fight in the Night.
The Sherrin BMW M4 will share the front row with the Bob Pearson/Rick Bates Mitsubishi Evo X.
Race start has been pushed back slightly to 1645, with a report to follow on Speedcafe.com.
Australian Prototype Series
David Barram was far too good for the competition in his Chiron LMP3 in Race 1 of Prototypes.
Barram won by nearly 13 seconds in the 16-lap race, despite losing an even bigger lead due to a mid-race Safety Car.
Jason Makris and Mark Laucke rounded out the podium positions in their West WX10s.
Tomorrow’s two races start at 1030 and 1315.
Series X3 Queensland
Cameron Bartholomew has won Race 1 of the all-Excel series despite a Lap 1 off.
Bartholomew tangled with fellow front-row starter Brett Parrish at the first corner, the former dropping to ninth and the latter failing to proceed.
However, Bartholomew staged a comeback, catching the front-runners again on Lap 3 before passing the top three in one move.
He lost the lead again when he ran wide at Turn 2 next time around before eventually winning out in an entertaining three-car battle.
Brock Giblin finished second and Jaylyn Robotham third, while Ashley Wright finished fourth after also being part of the stoush earlier in the race.
Races 2 and 3 are due at 0830 and 1115 tomorrow.
