Wanneroo was host of the second weekend of FANATEC GT World Challenge Australia in 2023, and while the No. 65 Shannons Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II looked like the best car of the weekend, Liam Talbot and Max Hofer only got the second race of the double header, while the No. 1 EMA Porsche 911 GT3R of Yasser Shahin and Garnet Patterson got victory before them in the short and tight track.
The Perth weekend meant a lot because Richie Stanaway was back to sportscar racing, more specifically the No. 888 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes in place of Broc Feeney, who was busy with the Supercars commitments at Wanneroo. Stanaway was one of the brightest talents of the Aston Martin driver pool before he decided to go back to Australia, then call time to his career, come back and establish himself in the Supercars.
Another comeback was from Renee Gracie, who even got Supercars experience in the Bathurst 1000 before she called time on her career to become a content creator for OnlyFans, which was sponsoring her No. 181 Audi R8 LMS ultra as she was competing for the first time in six years, being basically the only representant in the GT Trophy class.
Tight track, short length and swift corners would mean that fight for space will be tough, and the No. 65 Shannons Audi got the advantage as the field started forming a single file to look for the record line, and Liam Talbot had some room to breathe to the No. 75 JAMEC Audi and the No. 1 EMA Porsche as they were followed by the No. 55 Schumacher Audi and the Triple Eight JMR pair of Mercedes, and with the status quo predominating as pace was similar and overtaking moves needing many compromises to be made.
With nearly 15 minutes of racing, Talbot had a strange off in the final sector and the No. 75 passed to lead the race, while the No. 65 was kept in second place with certain effort. Five minutes later, another problem appeared in the scene, which was traffic to be lapped with a battle for position in the mix, and obviously a five car pack dealing with a trio of cars would having consequences for not negotiating the passes, and Talbot was the victim, with the No. 65 side bumped by the No. 48 M Motorsport Mercedes, which left a bent suspension on the Audi while the Mercedes parked on the grass.
Most of the leaders delivered the cars to the second drivers early in the pit window, and the No. 1 EMA Porsche won the race off pit road while the No. 88 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes also won positions, with the No. 75 JAMEC Audi conceding two due to the slow departure.
Traffic again played a part in the race outcome, as it helped the No. 1 to consolidate its lead, and helped Jamie Whincup to hold the No. 88 in second against a hungry Christopher Mies in the No. 75. The relentless pressure that Mies was making on Whincup was not only keeping the Australian driver honest, it was pushing them closer to Garnet Patterson, and while traffic also held the No. 1 EMA Porsche, Whincup and Mies’ gain wasn’t enough as both had to watch Patterson get the checkered from a second behind.
GTWC Australia - Perth Race 1 results
With pace enough to compete with the top of the Pro-Am Cup field, the No. 55 Schumacher Audi dominated the Am Cup, as the second in class No. 23 KFC Audi was too far behind to mount a challenge.
Race 2 had Audi and Mercedes on the front row, with the Audi having the advantage as Max Hofer placed well the No. 65 Shannons Audi to control the field. With only Jordan Love in the No. 24 TBR Mercedes keeping a close following of the leader, the pack led by the No. 88 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes was in trouble as all those behind Jamie Whincup would have losses when delivering the cars to the gentleman drivers.
Eventually, Hofer left Love behind and Christopher Mies in the No. 75 JAMEC Audi was trying to push Whincup towards Love’s strike range, but Whincup wasn’t keeping the pace with the second placed car, and if you can’t go ahead by traditional means, go round the outside like Mies did with 15 minutes of racing, finally pushing to chase the No. 24.
The lapping traffic started appearing five minutes later, slowing down Hofer but doing more harm to Love as Mies mounted an attack and passed on the inside to get second place. The usual strategy of larger pro driver stints was applied by most of the Pro-Am Cup field, and with pit window matters solved, the only change in the order was that the No. 888 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes jumped to third and the No. 88 car dropped to sixth.
Contact from the No. 88 into the No. 101 Volante Rosso Mercedes left the door open for the No. 1 EMA Porsche to close down and go ahead the battered cars, with Abu Bakar Ibrahim getting a 10 second stop and go penalty for the contact. Yasser Shahin still had time to put the No. 1 in fourth by passing Tony Bates in the No. 24, who was losing pace, and he later became another victim of the No. 88, which touched the rear of the No. 24 and sent it to the gravel right in front of the leader.
With the No. 65 Shannons Audi having half of the track of advantage to the No. 75 JAMEC Audi, Liam Talbot just had to bring it home to receive the checkered while Geoff Emery had a secure second place, with the No. 888 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes completing the overall podium.
With a further 5 second penalty applied, the No. 88 went down to seventh, even behind the Am Cup winner, the No. 55 Schumacher Audi.
GTWC Australia - Perth Race 2 results
Talbot and Hofer lead the Pro-Am Cup standings with 75 points against 67 of Shahin and Patterson, while Geoff Emery is third with 63 points. Brad Schumacher leads comfortaly the Am Cup table with 100 points against 72 of Stoupas and Stokell, and the debutant Renee Gracie is on a joint GT Trophy lead with Marcos Flack with 50 points each, while Stephen Coe has 36.
In two weeks the action is back at Phillip Island, with the third round being held on 13 and 14 May.
PHOTOS: Shannons Speedseries
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