The GT World Challenge Australia weekend at the Sydney Motorsport Park had two class sweeps, but the No. 26 Arise GT Ferrari 296 GT3 of Elliott Schutte and Jaxon Evans deserved to be called class of the field, as they had dominant runs in both races.
Race 1 had the No. 26 Arise Ferrari staying firm in the lead while Renee Gracis was keeping the No. 181 OnlyFans Audi in the Am Cup lead behind Eliiott Schutte. The No. 888 Kelso MPC Audi was quick to pass the No. 181 and in the next found the way past the No. 26, only for Schutte to get the position back a few corners later.
The rest of the first stint saw the top three and the No. 55 Valmont Tigani Mercedes stay within the view of each other, but with similar pace, which made it hard to prepare a move. Gracie was the first to jump to the pits once the window was open in order to protect the Am Cup lead with an undercut, so the situation on track would depend on how long the Pro-Am Cup would stay on track before coming for the mandatory stop.
After the window, the situation changed behind the No. 26, with the No. 55 taking second place while being followed by the No. 44 Valmont Tigani Mercedes. Thomas Randle was able to make the move around George King with five minutes to go, just in time to escape from the clutches of Jayden Ojeda in the No. 66 Realta Tigani Mercedes, with Randle having enough pace to hold Ojeda for second in the Pro-Am Cup, while Jaxon Evans guided the No. 26 Arise Ferrari to the overall and Pro-Am Cup wins with a substantial gap to the opposition.
GTWC Australia - Sydney Race 1 results
Despite losing ground against the Pro-Am Cup opposition during the pit window, Renee Gracie still kept the No. 181 OnlyFans Audi in the top spot of the Am Cup.
Leaving the Saturday floodlights for the Sunday sunlight, the second race started with Jaxon Evans staying in first despite the attempts from Tony D’Alberto to take the lead, but the driver in the No. 93 Wall Racing Lamborghini had other things to worry than pressing the No. 26 Arise Ferrari, as Ryan Wood was charging hard in the No. 88 Wolfbrook MPC Audi, with Wood changing the line in a swift move to take second place.
With the pit stops and added pit time out of the way, the No. 88 took the lead and had 7 seconds of advantage over the No. 26, while the No. 181 was finally able to open a gap away from the No. 16 Blackwolf Mercedes, but while the Am Cup was en route to a dominant run by Gracie, the Pro-Am Cup had a lead battle brewing as Elliott Schutte was bringing the No. 26 closer and closer to the No. 88, eventually squashing the gap with less than 10 minutes to go.
Steve Brooks had a difficult time with not so cooperative traffic in front, but the lapped cars held Schutte for a while too, which gave Brooks a momentary room to breathe until Schutte chased him again, and with an easy overtake after Turn 1, the No. 26 was back to the lead.
With clean air, Schutte was unstoppable, immediately opening a gap to the No. 88 Wolfbrook MPC Audi and securing the weekend sweep for the No. 26 Arise Ferrari with nine seconds to spare.
GTWC Australia - Sydney Race 2 results
Once Renee Gracie was in front, the No. 181 OnlyFans Audi was totally dominant in the Am Cup as the competition also had their struggles to deal with.
Evans and Schutte (No. 26) are cementing their place for the title as they have 93 points against the 54 of Feeney and Schumacher (No. 888) and the 45 of Ojeda and Lucchitti (No. 66). In the Am Cup, Gracie (No. 181) also has some cushion to the opposition, with 96 points against the 77 of Woodman and Schoots (No. 16).
The series will move to Queensland, with the next double header set for 31 May and 1 June.
PHOTOS: SRO
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