Peter Hackett and Liam Talbot shared the spoils at Sydney Motorsport Park after a spectacular day of racing to complete Round 5 of the CAMS Australian GT Championship.
Talbot continued his winning ways from Friday, piloting the Porsche to victory in the day’s opening race, before Hackett converted his incredible qualifying pace into a race win in the final encounter of the weekend.
It left the pair equal on 205 points for the weekend, with Hackett awarded the round courtesy of victory in Race 3.
“We did the best we could in Race 1 and Race 2, and then Race 3 we had a set of green tyres left over, a full set,” Hackett explained.
“Liam made a small mistake in Turn 4 and I saw a window into Turn 5 that I threw the nose into and got alongside him.
“There was a small touch into Turn 6, which I didn’t think much about, and then the guys got on the radio and said get your head down.
“We did what we needed to, we pitted at the first opportunity which brought us out half a second ahead, and then it was about controlling the race from there.”
It saw Hackett take his first race win of 2018, with Talbot following him home in second to complete a near-perfect weekend for the Walkinshaw GT3 squad.
Fraser Ross rounded out the podium in Race 3, having slipped behind Geoff Emery (Audi R8 LMS GT3) in Race 2, the McLaren driver finishing third for the round in the Totalpticoat entry.
Race 2 proved a thrilling affair with a four-way battle between Talbot, Hackett, Ross, and Emery.
The leading quartet circulated with little between them, Hackett making a stunning move on Ross soon after the pit stops as the McLaren driver shaped up to pass Emery.
Talbot won the race, which ended under Safety Car following a crash for Nick Kelly (Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT3) and David Crampton (KTM X-Bow GT4).
The pair touched at the exit of Turn 3 before finding the wall on the outside of the corner.
Both drivers were able to climb free from their cars, before being cleared of injury by circuit medical staff.
It left Jeremy Gray (Aston Martin Vantage GT4) to claim a class victory in both of Saturday’s races to extend his GT4 championship advantage to 299 points.
After suffering electrical problems on Friday, the Miedecke Motorsport/Magswitch Aston Martin Vantage GT3 stormed through the field in the hands of both George and Andrew Miedecke.
The pair’s efforts were rewarded with seventh in the weekend’s final race, one spot back from the impressive Brett Hobson.
Making his Australian GT Championship debut, Hobson enjoyed a stunning final race in the Hobson Motorsport GT-R NISMO GT3.
The team quietly tuned the car across the weekend before Hobson delivered a flawless performance in the finale.
Ryan How (Audi R8 LS Ultra GT3) proved he is a star of the future with two wins from three starts in Trophy Series competition over the weekend.
The impressive teenager won Saturday morning’s race before a sensational drive from Dave Stevens saw the Superfluid Ferrari 458 GT3 driver take the spoils in Race 3.
However, with two wins across the weekend, 16-year-old How won the round from Stevens, with Matt Stoupas Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT3) banking important championship points in his quest for the Trophy Series title.
Steve Richards and Ricky Capo combined to score solid championship points, the BMW Team SRM entry now sitting third in the championship heading into the final round.
The leading six drivers in the championship are split by just 65 points, with a whopping 320 on offer at Hampton Downs at the season’s final round.
The Australian GT Championship now heads to New Zealand for its final race of the year, which will also act as the CAMS Australian Endurance Championship final on October 13-14.
It will see two champions crowned on an action-packed weekend of racing at the challenging North Waikato circuit.
Before then, the CAMS Australian GT Trophy Series will crown its 2018 champion at Winton as part of the Shannons Nationals on September 1-2.
Result: CAMS Australian GT Championship, Sydney Motorsport Park, Race 2Pos Competitoream Driver Vehicle Laps Race Time Class
1 Walkinshaw GT3 Liam Talbot Porsche 911 GT3 R 49 50:37.723 CH
2 Eggleston Motorsport Peter Hackett Mercedes-AMG GT3 50 50:37.723 CH
3 Valvoline Geoff Emery Audi R8 LMS GT3 51 50:37.723 CH
4 Total Oil / Opti-Coat / Logitech Fraser Ross McLaren 650S GT3 52 50:37.723 CH
5 The Bend Motor Sport Park Yasser Shahin Mercedes-AMG GT3 53 50:37.723 CH
6 BTE Bulk Transport Equipment / Ren Racing Ryan How Audi R8 Ultra GT3 54 50:37.723 TR
7 Hobson Motorsport / Hi-Tech Oils Brett Hobson Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 55 50:37.723 CH
8 Superfluid Dave Stevens Ferrari 458 GT3 56 50:37.723 TR
9 BMW Team SRM Steve Richards BMW M6 GT3 57 50:37.723 CH
10 Scott Taylor Motorsport Scott Taylor Mercedes-AMG GT3 58 50:37.723 CH
11 Local Legends Beef Jerky Tony Quinn Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT3 59 50:37.723 CH
12 Wall Racing Adrian Deitz Lamborghini Huracan GT3 60 50:37.723 CH
13 Perfect Auto Body Vince Muriti Audi R8 Ultra GT3 61 50:37.723 TR
14 E.A.T. Furniture Rio Nugara Audi R8 Ultra GT3 62 50:37.723 TR
15 Kentucky Fried Chicken Matthew Stoupas Audi R8 Ultra GT3 63 50:37.723 TR
16 JMG / Bilstein Jeremy Gray Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT4 64 50:37.723 GT4
17 Hogs Breath Café / Griffith Corporation Mark Griffith Mercedes-AMG GT3 65 50:37.723 CH
18 Haemokinesis / Trofeo Estate / FreeM Jim Manolios Lamborghini Huracan GT3 66 50:37.723 CH
DNF Industrie Nick Kelly Audi R8 Ultra GT3 67 50:37.723 TR
DNF Vantage Freight / M Motorsport David Crampton KTM X-Bow GT4 68 50:37.723 GT4
Anarik Racing John Nikolovski Ferrari 458 Challenge 69 50:37.723 TR
Miedecke Motorsport / Magswitch Andrew Miedecke Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT3 70 50:37.723 CH
Result: CAMS Australian GT Championship, Sydney Motorsport Park, Race 3*Pos Competitoream Driver Vehicle Laps Race Time Class
1 Eggleston Motorsport Peter Hackett Mercedes-AMG GT3 49 50:37.723 CH
2 Walkinshaw GT3 Liam Talbot Porsche 911 GT3 R 50 50:37.723 CH
3 Total Oil / Opti-Coat / Logitech Fraser Ross McLaren 650S GT3 51 50:37.723 CH
4 Valvoline Geoff Emery Audi R8 LMS GT3 52 50:37.723 CH
5 Hobson Motorsport / Hi-Tech Oils Brett Hobson Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 53 50:37.723 CH
6 BMW Team SRM Steve Richards BMW M6 GT3 54 50:37.723 CH
7 Miedecke Motorsport / Magswitch Andrew Miedecke Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT3 55 50:37.723 CH
8 The Bend Motor Sport Park Yasser Shahin Mercedes-AMG GT3 56 50:37.723 CH
9 Hogs Breath Café / Griffith Corporation Mark Griffith Mercedes-AMG GT3 57 50:37.723 CH
10 KFC/Ctech Laser/Moveitnet/B&B Tony Bates Audi R8 LMS GT3 58 50:37.723 CH
11 Scott Taylor Motorsport Scott Taylor Mercedes-AMG GT3 59 50:37.723 CH
12 Superfluid Dave Stevens Ferrari 458 GT3 60 50:37.723 TR
13 BTE Bulk Transport Equipment / Ren Racing Ryan How Audi R8 Ultra GT3 61 50:37.723 TR
14 Kentucky Fried Chicken Matthew Stoupas Audi R8 Ultra GT3 62 50:37.723 TR
15 Local Legends Beef Jerky Tony Quinn Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT3 63 50:37.723 CH
16 Wall Racing Adrian Deitz Lamborghini Huracan GT3 64 50:37.723 CH
17 E.A.T. Furniture Rio Nugara Audi R8 Ultra GT3 65 50:37.723 TR
18 Perfect Auto Body Vince Muriti Audi R8 Ultra GT3 66 50:37.723 TR
19 Haemokinesis / Trofeo Estate / FreeM Jim Manolios Lamborghini Huracan GT3 67 50:37.723 CH
20 JMG / Bilstein Jeremy Gray Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT4 68 50:37.723 GT4
21 Anarik Racing John Nikolovski Ferrari 458 Challenge 69 50:37.723 TR*provisional results
CAMS Australian GT Championship StandingsDriver Total
Fraser Ross 847
Peter Hackett 831
Steve Richards 810
Geoff Emery 792
Liam Talbot 783
Tony Bates 782
Tony D’Alberto 640
Max Twigg 640
Scott Taylor 587
Daniel Gaunt 578
CAMS Australian GT4 Championship StandingsDriver Total
Jeremy Gray 918
David Crampton 619
Trent Harrison 619
Justin McMillan 476
Glen Wood 336
Daren Jorgensen 315
Brett Strom 315
Andrew Miedecke 297
Xavier West 189
Mark Griffith 175
CAMS Australian GT Trophy SeriesDriver Total
Nick Kelly 687
Rio Nugara 657
Matthew Stoupas 655
John Morriss 486
Dave Stevens 467
Ryan How 207
Dale Paterson 205
Luke Seidler 162
Chris Seidler 162
Joseph Ensabella 161
Source. Australian GT Championship
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