The return to action of the FANATEC GT World Challenge Australia after the Bathurst 12 Hour had the favorites in control of the double header at the fast and bumpy Queensland Raceway, with the No. 888 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo and the No. 1 The Bend MPC Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II winning on Saturday and Sunday.
One of the noticeable things this weekend was the 12 car grid from the moment that the Race 1 started, with half of it being MPC supported Audis. Commitments on FANATEC GT World Challenge Asia and at the 24 Hours of Spa took some of the Australian entries, and along with other cars that didn’t travel but stood parked, made the absent list a pretty long one, considering that this season the grid passed the 20-car mark.
The No. 1 The Bend MPC Audi had control of the race in its initial moments, which is an important thing in a fast paced and straightforward circuit like Queensland, and on the other hand, the No. 888 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes was having trouble to come from the back of the 12 car field, with Jeffri Ibrahim having a rough reception on the first lap and having to recover from eighth place.
Yasser Shahin had no moment to rest or breathe with former GT World Challenge Europe racer Liam Talbot hot on his rear diffuser with the No. 20 GTechniq MPC Audi, but a Safety Car intervention at 18 minutes caused by the stricken No. 2 Supabarn MPC Audi would actually give more trouble to Shahin, given that more cars would be all over Talbot and maybe over him.
With 10 minutes of neutralization, the green flag came during the pit window, and the on track stalemate was kept into the pits, being shuffled only by the success penalty times that some cars had, which put the No. 888 at the top of the queue.
With Shane van Gisbergen keeping similar, if not faster laps than Garth Tander, the No. 888 was keeping the good distance it had to the No. 1, and the status quo was kept until the finish line, with the No. 888 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes scoring a commanding win from the back. The No. 17 Catan Audi won the Am Cup, while the No. 55 Schumacher Audi of Brad Schumacher had the GT Trophy class in his hands.
GTWC Australia - Queensland Race 1 results
In Race 2, the contenders from Race 1 were separated by the No. 24 C-Tech Audi, with David Reynolds keeping enough pace to split Garth Tander and Shane van Gisbergen and still stay in the chase for the lead. With the Safety Car on track due to the beached No. 55 Schumacher Audi and the No. 23 KFC MPC Audi, which was result of a contact, the trio was kept together while the rest of the field caught up with them.
The No. 24 had the advantage on the pit window, but Tony Bates still had Yasser Shahin just behind him, and it didn’t take too much for the No. 1 to retake the race lead and open the gap, with Bates falling into the No. 20 GTechniq MPC Audi’s strike zone, which turned into a heated battle for second, with some panels lost on the No. 20 that threw it down to fourth.
Within the final minutes, Liam Talbot had to deal with Jeffri Ibrahim and his No. 888 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes, barely holding second place while the No. 1 The Bend MPC Audi won comfortably the race. The No. 17 Catan MPC Audi was the best of the Am Cup by basically surviving unscathed.
GTWC Australia - Queensland Race 2 results
Sandown Raceway hosts Rounds 6 and 7 of GTWC Australia on 17-18 September.
PHOTOS: SRO
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