Ash Walsh and Kelvin van der Linde will start on the front row for Race 1 of the Australian GT Championship at Barbagallo Raceway.
Walsh (#44 Supabarn Supermarkets Audi R8) and van der Linde’s (#74 Valvoline Audi R8) times from yesterday’s first qualifying session were not beaten in this morning’s red-flag affected second qualifier.
Liam Talbot’s 56.7377s lap topped the session but was slower than the #911 Mega Racing Porsche 911 driver achieved in Qualifying 1.
Second-fastest for the session was Fraser Ross (#59 YNA Autosport / McElrea Racing McLaren 650S) with a 56.7667s, with Tony Walls (#11 Objective Racing Porsche 911), Geoff Emery (#74) and Ash Samadi (#3 Ah Apartments Audi R8) rounding out the top five of the 20 minute outing.
While Talbot was able to claim the top of the sheets this morning, his session was not without drama – starting with an awkward spin on the exit of Turn 1 to see him stranded across the track forcing a number of his fellow competitors into evasive action.
He would rejoin and set his first top time of the session in the very next lap. After setting his second and final fast lap on his fourth rotation, the red flag flew after 7:15s completed for the #124 KFC Audi R8 of Gary Higgan.
Higgan had looped his Audi left out of Turn 4 and struck the wall heavily, forcing a recovery via flat bed which saw the field held under red flag conditions until the end of the session.
They would have just one minute and 45 seconds of green running at the end of the session once Higgan’s steed was cleared away, with it not being enough time to see a change to the running order.
Also coming to grief throughout the session was the pole-sitting Audi with James Koundouris at the wheel. Koundouris lost the rear in the mid-corner of Turn 4 just as the red flag period begun, but was able to gather it up and rejoin without assistance.
The opening race will be held today at 1225 AWST (1425 AEST), with the higher-ranked drivers in each car starting the hour-long affair.
Results: Qualifying 2
| 1 | MEGA Racing | Liam Talbot (QLD) | Porsche 911 GT3-R | 0:56.7377 | |
| 2 | YNA Autosport / McElrea Racing | Fraser Ross (VIC) | McLaren 650S GT3 | 0:56.7667 | 0:00.0290 |
| 3 | Objective Racing | Tony Walls (NSW) | McLaren 650S GT3 | 0:57.3552 | 0:00.6175 |
| 4 | Valvoline | Geoff Emery | Audi R8 LMS | 0:57.6986 | 0:00.9609 |
| 5 | Ah Apartments | Ash Samadi (VIC) | Audi R8 LMS | 0:57.8103 | 0:01.0726 |
| 6 | WM Waste Management Services | Max Twigg (VIC) | Mercedes Benz AMG GT | 0:58.2976 | 0:01.5599 |
| 7 | Hogs Breath Cafe/Griffith Corp | Mark Griffith (QLD) | Mercedes Benz AMG GT | 0:58.3195 | 0:01.5818 |
| 8 | PM Motorpsort | Peter Major (WA) | Lamborghini R-EX | 0:58.3419 | 0:01.6042 |
| 9 | Supabarn Supermarkets | James Koundouris (ACT) | Audi R8 LMS | 0:58.5852 | 0:01.8475 |
| 10 | JBS Australia | Roger Lago (QLD) | Lamborghini R-EX | 0:58.8602 | 0:02.1225 |
| 11 | DJS Racing | Danny Stutterd (VIC) | BMW M6 GT3 | 0:59.0395 | 0:02.3018 |
| 12 | AMAC Motorsport | Andrew Macpherson (NSW) | Lamborghini Huracan | 0:59.0456 | 0:02.3079 |
| 13 | Moveitnet / AFS | Tony Bates | Mercedes Benz AMG GT | 0:59.4362 | 0:02.6985 |
| 14 | GT Motorsport | Greg Taylor (NSW) | Audi R8 LMS | 0:59.4828 | 0:02.7451 |
| 15 | BMW Team SRM | James Bergmuller | BMW M6 GT3 | 1:00.3048 | 0:03.5671 |
| 16 | Scott Taylor Motorsport | Scott Taylor (QLD) | Mercedes Benz AMG GT | 1:00.4256 | 0:03.6879 |
| 17 | Darrell Lea | Tony Quinn (QLD) | McLaren 650S GT3 | 1:00.7571 | 0:04.0194 |
| 18 | Kentucky Fried Chicken | Gary Higgan (VIC) | Audi R8 LMS | 1:01.7748 | 0:05.0371 |
Starting grid: Race 1
| 1 | Supabarn Supermarkets | J.Koundouris/A.Walsh | Audi R8 LMS | Q1 | 0:55.4281 |
| 2 | Valvoline | K.van der Linde/G.Emery | Audi R8 LMS | Q1 | 0:55.7166 |
| 3 | Kentucky Fried Chicken | G.Higgan/D.Gaunt | Audi R8 LMS | Q1 | 0:55.7876 |
| 4 | PM Motorpsort | Peter Major (WA) | Lamborghini R-EX | Q1 | 0:55.8269 |
| 5 | JBS Australia | Roger Lago (QLD) | Lamborghini R-EX | Q1 | 0:55.9811 |
| 6 | AMAC Motorsport | A.Macpherson/B.Shiels | Lamborghini Huracan | Q1 | 0:56.0931 |
| 7 | MEGA Racing | Liam Talbot (QLD) | Porsche 911 GT3-R | Q1 | 0:56.3328 |
| 8 | YNA Autosport / McElrea Racing | Fraser Ross (VIC) | McLaren 650S GT3 | Q1 | 0:56.4825 |
| 9 | BMW Team SRM | S.Richards/J.Bergmuller | BMW M6 GT3 | Q1 | 0:56.5238 |
| 10 | Objective Racing | Tony Walls (NSW) | McLaren 650S GT3 | Q1 | 0:56.7305 |
| 11 | WM Waste Management Services | Max Twigg (VIC) | Mercedes Benz AMG GT | Q1 | 0:56.8193 |
| 12 | Hogs Breath Cafe/Griffith Corp | M.Griffith/J.Camilleri | Mercedes Benz AMG GT | Q1 | 0:56.8258 |
| 13 | Moveitnet / AFS | Tony Bates | Mercedes Benz AMG GT | Q1 | 0:56.9321 |
| 14 | GT Motorsport | Greg Taylor (NSW) | Audi R8 LMS | Q1 | 0:57.1069 |
| 15 | Ah Apartments | Ash Samadi (VIC) | Audi R8 LMS | Q1 | 0:57.1480 |
| 16 | DJS Racing | Danny Stutterd (VIC) | BMW M6 GT3 | Q1 | 0:57.2499 |
| 17 | Scott Taylor Motorsport | Scott Taylor (QLD) | Mercedes Benz AMG GT | Q1 | 0:57.5426 |
| 18 | Darrell Lea | Tony Quinn (QLD) | McLaren 650S GT3 | Q2 | 1:00.7571 |
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