Australian GT Championship
Kelvin van der Linde has put on a show as he set the fastest three laps in practice for Round 4 of the Australian GT Championship in Townsville.
After Geoff Emery had started the session in the #74 Jamec Pem Audi R8, van der Linde took over for the final few minutes of the 20-minute hit-out.
The Audi factory ace jumped to the top when he became the first man to lap in the 1:13s bracket, before reeling off a 1:13.16s two laps later, then a 1:13.15s after the chequered flag.
Ash Walsh, this weekend sharing the #44 Supabarn Audi R8 with Duvashen Padayachee, improved that car’s time late in the session but was still 0.58s away from the quick South African van der Linde.
Glen Wood, who led at the halfway mark, was even further adrift again in the #48 M Motorsport Lamborghini R-EX, ahead of championship leader Liam Talbot (#911 Walkinshaw Porsche 911 GT3-R) and Fraser Ross (#59 McElrea McLaren 650S).
Australian GT returns to the track for Qualifying 1 tomorrow from 0830 local time/AEST, with Qualifying 2 at 1025.
V8 Ute Racing Series
Ryal Harris has set the fastest time in both practice sessions for the V8 Ute Racing Series, despite a mechanical issue curtailing the latter for the #58 Peters Motorsport Falcon.
Harris was 0.7s faster than the rest in Practice 1 (1:27.30s), then 0.5s faster in Practice 2 (1:28.28s) despite completing only four laps due to an apparent leaking differential.
Craig Dontas (#45 Commodore) was the best of the rest, followed by Marcus Zukanovic (#71 Falcon), Craig Woods (#64 Falcon), and Kim Jane (#27 Commodore).
The top six all set their respective fastest laps during the cooler early morning session, with Jane second-fastest in the latter, early afternoon hit-out.
V8 Utes will qualify tomorrow at 0900 before Race 1 at 1055.
Aussie Racing Cars
Kel Treseder has taken a third pole of the season in Round 4 of Aussie Racing Cars.
The Bundaberg driver set his fastest lap time on just his second timed lap, but couldn’t extract any more speed despite going faster to the second sector on multiple occasions.
Nevertheless, the time (1:25.01s) was good enough to put the Kart Centre Perth car on pole.
Peter Carr was fastest on the first timed laps before settling into second position for the duration.
The pole-sitter in Aussie Racing Cars’ only previous Townsville round (2012), Carr improved his personal best on consecutive laps in the latter minutes but fell 0.04s short of Treseder’s benchmark.
Row two will be James Duckworth and Jaie Robson, the latter setting his time before slowing due to a loose plug lead.
Adam Uebergang and Blake Sciberras make up row three, with series leader Craig Woods starting off seventh position.
Brendon Tucker, Ian Chivas, and Madison Dunston all had spins during the session, the latter a fast lose through Turn 6, but all kept off the walls.
Saturday’s program sees the first three of four Aussie Racing Cars races, with Race 1 starting at 0800.
Toyota 86 Racing Series
Cameron Hill has set the pace in both practice sessions for the first ever Toyota 86 Racing Series round in Queensland.
Hill lapped the 2.86km street circuit in a best time of 1:30.43s during Practice 1, beating series leader Jimmy Vernon by 0.48s, with Aaron Seton ever so slightly further back.
Dean Canto was the faster of the two invited drivers in sixth, with Alex Davison 18th.
Like V8 Utes, the majority of the fast times came during the morning session rather than the hotter afternoon session.
Qualifying takes place tomorrow at 0930 and Race 1 at 1125.
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