The Bathurst weekend of FANATEC GT World Challenge Australia saw the competitors go with all out sprint nature instead of the traditional 12 hour endurance mentality, and great racing was presented as Supercars titans clashed and also their team mates, and this ended with Triple Eight and Melbourne Performance Centre sharing the wins of the two races held.
The first race at the mountain had the No. 777 MPC Audi keeping the lead as secure as possible from the No. 96 Hobson Nissan while the field was losing contact in the first moments, leaving Yasser Shahin and Brett Hobson in their own battle for the overall lead.
Behind them, Brad Schumacher in the No. 55 Schumacher Audi wasn’t exactly eager to wait Tony Bates in the No. 24 MPC Audi to gain pace, so he opened the path and gone away with the third spot, leaving Bates as prey for the No. 7 Local Legends Aston Martin and an impatient Tony Quinn, who eventually made the move for fourth.
The trick for the Pro-Am Cup entries was pitting as early as possible to deliver the cars to the professionals, while the single drivers in Trophy were the ones on a mad run to maximize track time before pitting, which was ineffective against the pace of the Supercars specialists, as prove by Garth Tander by quickly turning the No. 777 MPC Audi into the race leader, while Chaz Mostert and Shane van Gisbergen, returning from injury, were carrying the No. 24 MPC Audi and the No. 888 Triple Eight Mercedes in second and third.
The No. 55 Schumacher Audi may have lost the lead, but still being the Trophy first place from fourth overall was a good result, as well a fifth for the No. 96 Hobson Nissan.
A pit time infringement presented a stop and go penalty for the No. 24, effectively writing it off the fight, which opened the way for the No. 888 to nullify any gap to the No. 777, and with Tander on target, van Gisbergen just had to use of some extra effort to take the lead, of which he never let go until the checkered to win Race 1 with the No. 888.
The No. 55 Schumacher Audi won the Trophy class and gave the spectacle of the day, putting a brave fight to hold the overall podium to only lose it to the No. 24 MPC Audi at the final corners. The No. 7 Local Legends Aston Martin was the Am Cup winner practically unchallenged during the whole race.
GTWC Australia - Bathurst Race 1 results
Race 2 had the pros in front and Shane van Gisbergen being pressed by both MPC Audis behind him, and while Garth Tander in the No. 777 decided to settle for third and watch, Chaz Mostert in the No. 24 decided to take action from second, keeping the No. 888 honest during the first moments of racing, extending it up to the pit window, although Mostert couldn’t keep himself into van Gisbergen’s rear wing.
During the final minutes of pit window the No. 91 Canon Foods Audi slammed the wall, with Arthur Abrahams quickly pulling off track but not avoiding a yellow flag to be triggered because of debris. The green flag was back with 12 minutes to go, and Jeffri Ibrahim in the lead with the No. 888 opening some gap thanks to backmarkers in front of the competition.
The No. 24 MPC Audi tried to pass the No. 888 Triple Eight Mercedes, but Tony Bates not only failed to do so, but also lost contact to Ibrahim and the second place to Yasser Shahin in the No. 777. Once Shahin got rid of Bates, his pace had an immediate rise, good enough to close on Ibrahim in the final 3 minutes, and after two laps seeing the No. 888’s back wing, Shahin was decisive at Forrest’s Elbow, stealing the victory in the final lap.
The No. 55 Schumacher Audi consolidated the good weekend with the Race 2 win, a turnaround after Brad Schumacher’s crash in practice, and the No. 7 Local Legends Aston Martin of Tony Quinn was also supreme in the Am Cup.
Mark Griffith saw the GT4 class debut this year with his No. 19 Mercedes from Daimler Trucks Brisbane.
GTWC Australia - Bathurst Race 2 results
The next meeting will be exactly at Shahin’s home, The Bend Motorsport Park, in exactly a month on 8 & 9 May.
PHOTOS: Triple Eight Racing Engineering and The Bend Motorsport Park
Comments
Post a Comment
Do you have an opinion? Feel free to comment.