By Tarek Ramchani
Philip Island Grand Prix Circuit played host to the second round of the Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli today. Four Audi R8 LMS cars entered the event, all of them were listed within the GT Trophy class.
It all started very well for the Audi and Melbourne Performance Centre squad in the 101 laps endurance event. Audi regular Warren Luff took a sensational very last moment pole position in the qualifying session.
In the race the Audi cars performed well challenging the strong line-ups from the upper GT class. Best ranked R8 LMS was the #6 car driven by Rod Salmon and Nathan Antunes. The two drivers finished seventh overall and second within the GT Trophy class
PolemanWarren Luff and team-mate Steve McLaughlan finished ninth overall with their #75 Audi R8 LMS. Ockert Fourie and John Magro sharing the #72 Audi R8 LMS were fifteenth overall.
Unfortunately the #71 Audi R8 LMS driven by Dean Koutsoumidis and James Winslow did not finish the race. The EquityOneMotorsport Audi entry was performing well before being forced to retire.
Race victory went the #7 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 from VIP Petfoods. Second was the #36 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 from Erebus Motorsport. Third was the #88 Ferrari 458 GT3 from Maranello Motorsport.
The next round of the Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli will be at Townsville Street Circuit.
Photo credit: Australian GT
