GTWC Rd 1 Phillip Island Wrap – 2nds all Round

Heading into Rd 1 of the Fanatec GT World Challenge at Phillip Island excitement levels were high but expectations measured given the lack of both drivers recent experience at the venue, Mike never having raced there and Garth not having done so for close to 8 years.

Practice went smoothly as the drivers got settled in however, we weren’t lighting up the time sheets and once practice was done we were sitting middle of the pack for AM class. The GWR team got to work with some setup changes heading into qualifying looking to move us up the time sheets.

Qualifying

Mike was out first to qualify us for the Race 1 which he would also start. After a few laps warming things up he found some good track space and got to work, setting a PB by almost 3 seconds. This would have us starting P14 outright and 4th in class. Next up was Garth to set our grid spot for Race 2. The setup changes were positive and helped Garth to set a time good enough for P8 outright and second in class but it was clear we still needed to find some more pace, especially relative to the Audis which were the benchmark.

Race 1

Conditions were perfect on Saturday for the first Race of the weekend and Mike wasted no time with a great start picking up 3 spots on the opening lap. Unfortunately, even with some good improvements in pace, he still lacked some pace relative to a few of the more experienced opposition and dropped back to hand the car to Garth in P13, up 1 spot at the pitstop. Garth worked his way up the order steadily and we were chasing down the class leading KFC Audi for the win, however Stokell in the sister KFC Audi had speed to burn and caught Garth leading to a hairy off-track excursion when the aero wash hit as he passed. On the last lap we caught the previously leading KFC Audi of Stoupas which was now in second to claim P8 outright and 2nd in class.

Race 2

Things were a little cooler on Sunday for Race 2 and it became clear the track was a bit faster than the previous day. Some further positive setup changes had also closed the gap to the very quick Audis. As a result Garth was able to stick with the class leading car, which had been almost a second quicker in qualifying, throughout his stint and build up a gap to the cars further down the order. A tardy pit stop dropped Mike back into the clutches of several cars, from the class lead, and mid-way through the stint he was positioned third. An exciting multi lap tussle with the AMAK Lamborghini concluded in a thrilling finish, Mike getting the pass done out of the last corner to claim another 2nd place finish as the 3rd placed Rosser in his Audi was only metres away as they crossed the finish line. In the end it was good enough, just, for another 2nd place in AM class and P9 outright.

Overall the weekend was a strong result with Mike and Garth finishing second overall in the GT Am Class with outright top-10 finishes in both races.