The opening race of the FANATEC GT World Challenge Australia season had a bit of everything, and in what was an action packed affair at Phillip Island, the No. 777 MPC Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo of Yasser Shahin and Garth Tander prevailed with certain ease thanks to some mid-race events.
The Australian series grid is a bit peculiar compared to the other FANATEC GT World Challenge series, as older machinery, usually reserved to the GT Sports Club, makes the numbers in a the Am Cup competing as Trophy entries, similarly to how GT World Challenge America combined its own grid with the GT Sports Club America last season, and this brings some cars that may be considered oddities today, like the Nissan GT-R GT3 MY15 and the rare REITER Camaro GT3.
The first race started the MPC Audis taking the top as immediately as the first two corners while the mess was around the back, with the No. 51 AMAC Lamborghini being hit and getting stranded trackside. Eventually the No. 777 Audi found a way past the No. 24 Audi, while the team worked to keep the No. 9 Grove Porsche at bay.
Yasser Shahin was quick to open the gap in the first moments and leave the battle for those behind him, with the No. 9 moving past the No. 24 MPC Audi just before the Safety Car is called out due to multiple incidents on tracks, notable the No. 7 Local Legends Aston Martin being stopped on track as well a huge crash for the No. 38 Trading Garage Aston Martin V12.
The whole mess around took a good 13 minutes to be cleaned up before the green flag could be waved again, and between the shiny new machinery at the top of the lot was the No. 55 Schumacher Audi in third, with what’s basically a machine six years older than its immediate opponents, with Brad Schumacher basically giving Stephen Grove in the No. 9 Grove Porsche a run for his money.
An unusual turn of events opened the pit window, as the No. 9 stalled before the pit entry, blocking the No. 24 MPC Audi and the No. 888 Triple Eight Mercedes, with Jeffri Ibrahim finding a way past outside the line, being followed by Tony Bates, while Stephen Grove eventually moved again.
The Am Cup drivers, in special the solo ones, took the pit window time to maximize their track time with clean air before pitting and the having the presence of the pro drivers near them, and with things settling down as the pit window closed, the No. 777 MPC Audi took the lead with Garth Tander pushing it hard without immediate threats.
While the No. 777 was in its solo run in first, the other Championship cars had to climb the order, which was the case for the No. 888 Triple Eight Mercedes as it passed the No. 23 KFC Audi that was in control of the Trophy class, but with the big gap to the No. 55 Schumacher Audi, the No. 23 made the defense as clean as possible, though that would bite it back a little bit later as the No. 55 took the class lead.
While Whincup was pushing hard to compensate for the lost time, it wasn’t enough for the No. 888 to close into the winning No. 777 MPC Audi, while the No. 24 MPC Audi completed both the overall and the Pro-Am Cup podium by passing the Trophy competition at the final moments.
GT World Challenge Australia - Phillip Island Race 1 results
The No. 55 Schumacher Audi secured a great day with the Trophy win, and the No. 7 Local Legends Aston Martin was the best Am Cup entry out of eighth overall after its early incident.
Race 2 will be held at 11:50 A.M. local time (12:50 A.M. GMT).
PHOTO: SRO/ARG
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