The Harrolds Volante Rosso Motorsport team has finished with a solid weekend at the second round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia, powered by AWS Championship sixth in the Pro-Am category overall with Jayden Ojeda successfully completing his first GT3 races and Ross Poulakis continuing his development with the team.
The opening race on Saturday saw Poulakis complete his stint from eighth on the grid to hand over to Ojeda. The Sydney-based racer had a spirited battle with West Australian raised AMG Junior driver, Jordan Love.
Ojeda managed to hold out Love before moving into the top five late in the race.
The second race Sunday morning saw a reverse of the two drivers with Ojeda, the designated Pro, taking the wheel with a fresh set of Pirelli tyres.
After getting squeezed at turn one and ultimately losing a place, Ojeda was unable to break the aero wash of the car in front of him before handing over to Poulakis.
Having made a position during the course of the pitstop, Poulakis’ charge was stymied after a fellow competitor collected him, spinning him off the track.
He was able to re-join and complete the race and once post race penalties were applied, the Harrolds Volante Rosso Motorsport team finished with a sixth place finish.
It leaves the team in good stead heading to round three coming up next month at Phillip Island, a circuit more suited to the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia machinery.
Heading to Phillip Island, Ross remains sixth on points in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia, presented by AWS scorecard.
JAYDEN OJEDA:
“I’m happy with how the weekend ended up, for me it was a learning experience in racing a GT3 car on a circuit I’ve not been to before, so there was a lot to take in.
“Personally, I achieved what I wanted through that. Yesterday, we had a great battle with Jordan and today, starting the race, I was looking to maximise the advantage of having fresh tyres to start the race.
“We got squeezed at the start which put me a place back rather than achieving my aim of making up a spot, however I was then caught in the aero wash and with the nature of the circuit, I couldn’t make too much ground.
“Ross did a terrific job through the weekend and it is unfortunate that he got turned around. Either way we got some decent points and head to a circuit that is built for the Mercedes-AMG GT3 style of racecar.”
ROSS POULAKIS:
“It was interesting to come to a brand new venue for me here in Perth. It took me a while to get used to the track and the conditions that presented themselves through the weekend.
“As the weekend progressed, we got better, however our results were compromised by some bad luck in both of the races. I hit a curb yesterday and had a spin, then today got hit, which spun me, however I came back to do some of my best times of the weekend after that!
“Overall, I’m pretty happy, especially with the performance of Jayden, he was absolutely amazing first up to adapt to the Harrolds Volante Rosso Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 and showed what he is capable of. Bring on Phillip Island!”
About Harrolds:
Founded in 1985, Harrolds, Australia’s luxury department store, is committed to curating an in-store (and online) experience that is like no other in Australian luxury fashion. It has three experience stores – Collins Street Melbourne and men’s and women’s stores in Westfield Sydney – as well as a strong online offering featuring the world’s premiere luxury brands.
For many years, Harrolds aligned itself with the horse racing industry through race sponsorship with Melbourne Turf Club, Australian Turf Club and the Magic Millions enterprise. The business continues to see the success of these partnerships, many years after its involvement.
www.harrolds.com.au
About Volante Rosso:
Volante Rosso Motorsport was established by former Formula 1 engineer – Chris Papadopoulos and international racer, Josh Hunt. Papadopoulos was part of the engineering crew at the World Championship winning Renault Formula 1 team and worked with Kimi Raikkonen when he took victory in Melbourne with Lotus. Hunt has a storied international career in karting, GT and open wheel racing, being the only Australian driver to have raced karts on every continent (barring Antarctica).
www.volanterosso.com.au
