Heavy rainfall has led to racing being suspended at Round 5 of the 2022 Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships at Sandown.

Motorsport Australia issued an update at 14:45 local time/AEST advising that racing had been suspended.

“Racing has been suspended due to the extreme wet weather for at least 45 minutes,” the statement read.

Motorsport Australia issued a subsequent update at 15:05 local time/AEST advising that racing will resume at 15:30 local time/AEST subject to weather conditions.

Racing was suspended after the opening encounter for the Fanatec GTWC Australia Powered by AWS Series ended early under Safety Car.

The Safety Car was brought out with just under 20 minutes on the clock after Am competitor Matt Stoupas aquaplaned his Audi R8 LMS EVO on approach to the final sequence of corners and ended up in the sandtrap.

The chequered flag was waved shortly after Ross Poulakis slid his Mercedes AMG GT3 off the track under Safety Car.

Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Shane van Gisbergen and Prince Jefri Ibrahim were at the head of the field, with Garth Tander/Yasser Shahin in second, and Fraser Ross/Liam Talbot in third.

The Supercheap Auto Touring Car Australia Series is set to recommence track activity, followed by Race 1 of the Turtle Wax Trans-Am Series at 16:15 local time/AEST, and Race 1 of the Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters Series at 16:45 local time/AEST.

All races are subject to any further adverse weather.