V8 Supercars star Fabian Coulthard helped Tony Quinn to a fitting victory in the final race of the 2013 Australian GT Championship at Highlands Park.
Starting the race in the Darrell Lea Aston Martin, Coulthard made short work of Friday winner and pole-man Rod Salmon in the early corners; eventually opening up a 30 second lead before handing over to Quinn.
Quinn, owner of Highlands, the AGTC and the Aston, proved good enough to hold on for the victory in the 40 minute race despite the best efforts of a charging Craig Baird.
Baird had taken over from series champion Klark Quinn at the stops and closed to within six seconds of the win by the flag.
Salmon and co-driver Liam Talbot eventually finished third in their Audi; enough to put the duo on the second step of the weekend podium behind Quinn/Coulthard and ahead of Quinn/Baird.
Greg Murphy and Neil Crompton took Tony Quinn’s McLaren to fourth in Race 2 ahead of Peter Edwards/John Bowe (Ferrari) and local youngsters Andrew Waite/Simon Evans (Aston Martin).
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Andrew McInnes had also shown speed during the race, cutting past Edwards – who subsequently endured a small spin – in the early stages.
McInnes eventually spun his Audi while leading during the pitstop cycle, stranding the Equity-One entry in the gravel.
The weekend’s action decided the season’s class winners, with Steve McLaughlan (Chrysler Viper) taking GT Trophy, Ben Foessel (Porsche 997 Cup Car) GT Challenge and Mark Griffth (Ginetta GT4) GT Sports.
The AGTC competitors will now turn their attention to Sunday’s non-points Highlands 101, where they will be joined by a diverse range of local South Island Endurance Series entrants.
See below for the AGTC’s official video wrap of the day’s action
