Walkinshaw Porsche snares GT enduro pole

John Martin and Duvashen Padayachee combined to secure pole position for Walkinshaw Racing in the second round of the Australian Endurance Championship at Sydney Motorsport Park.

The Porsche GT3 R duo starred in qualifying at the Western Sydney venue as average times calculated from the two 20 minute sessions set the grid for Saturday’s 101 lap enduro.

A last gasp effort from Martin saw him climb to the top of the times in the opening session with a 1:27.08s.

Co-driver Padayachee backed up the Porsche’s pace by posting a 1:28.11s to claim fifth in Qualifying 2 which was good enough to secure pole.

The Supabarn Supermarkets Audi R8 GT3 will join the Porsche on the front row after Marcus Marshall ended Q1 in fourth, while co-driver Theo Koundouris was 15th in Q2.

A strong showing from Andrew and George Miedecke saw the pair claim third on the grid in their Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

The Objective McLaren 650S of Tony Walls and Warren Luff ended qualifying in fourth, aided by the latter’s blistering 1:27.61s that secured second spot behind David Russell (JBS Lamborghini) in Q2.

Former Australian GT champion Klark Quinn and Daniel Gaunt were fifth fastest in the Darrell Lea McLaren 650S in front of the Egglston Motorsport Mercedes AMG GT3 of Peter Hackett and Dominic Storey.

Greg Taylor and new co-driver Nathan Antunes combined to secure seventh, while championship leaders Grant Denyer and Nathan Morcom (Tekno McLaren 650s) were eighth.

Russell’s impressive showing in Q2 helped the entry he shares with Roger Lago to ninth, as DTM star Miguel Molina and Tony Bates rounded out the top 10 in the #1 Jamec Pem Racing Audi R8 GT3.

Meanwhile, just outside the top 10 was the BMW M6 GT3 of Steven Richards and Max Twigg in 11th position.

Qualifying 2 ran largely without incident although Scott Taylor survived a glance with the wall at the final corner in the #222 Mercedes AMG GT3.

The entry will start from 13th on the grid courtesy of Craig Baird’s seventh fastest time set in Q1.

Trofeo Motorsport’s new Lamborghini Huracan GT3 will start from the back of the grid in the hands of Jim Manolios and Ryan Millier.

Millier encountered a spin at Turn 3 in the first hit out which briefly brought out the red flags.

The 101 lap endurance is scheduled to begin on Saturday morning at 0805 AEST.

Result: Australian Endurance Championship Sydney Motorsport Park 101