Van der Linde wins GT Race 3 at Albert Park

Kelvin van der Linde came from behind to run away with another race win in Round 2 of the Australian GT Championship at Albert Park.

Daniel Gaunt finished second again, while David Russell held out Ash Walsh to complete the podium.

Gaunt emerged from the first corner with the lead in the KFC Audi, which he held until Lap 4.

Van der Linde then made a committed move in the Jamec Pem Audi at Ascari, and soon disappeared up the road to a seven-second victory in the 11-lap journey, his second of the weekend.

The battle for the minors, however, was an intense race-long affair, with Walsh the key protagonist.

The Infants’ Friend Audi driver, who was stripped of the opening race victory due to a start infringement, passed Russell for third on the opening lap before running wide and dropping to sixth.

He passed Dean Fiore and Lewis Williamson in consecutive laps before catching up to the third-placed Russell on Lap 4.

Russell was in turn attempting to find a way past Gaunt, but the Kiwi skipped clear when Walsh made his move on Russell on Lap 7.

The former Supercars full-timer caught Gaunt again two laps later and made a late dive down the inside at Turn 15, but ran onto the grass and instead dropped to fourth again.

Walsh made life difficult for Russell in the final laps but the JBS Lamborghini driver held his nerve, and a podium finish.

Williamson, Fiore, Cameron McConville, Steven Richards, Glen Wood, and Liam Talbot rounded out the top 10.

Former Ferrari Formula 1 driver Ivan Capelli finished 13th, while Benny Simonson parked his Ferrari 458 beside the track early on.

The final race of the weekend will see the lower-ranked drivers take to the track tomorrow at 11:30 AEDT.

Results: Race 3, Round 2, Albert Park