A New Era for GT World Challenge

​The 2024 Australian Fanatec GT World Challenge championship would begin here at the picturesque Phillip Island Circuit with plenty of storylines.  This year would be the first season under the international rules, as GT4 would also become a standalone category.

The biggest headlines would be around Arise Racing’s new pair of Ferrari 296 GT3s.  The cars arrived in Perth in February and since then have done shakedowns at Wanaroo and Phillip Island.  V8 Supercars driver Chaz Mostert and reigning Australian GT World Challenge champion Liam Talbot would pilot the #1 Ferrari whilst Jaxon Evans and Elliot Schutte would be in the #8.  

New Zealand duo Tim Miles and Brendon Leitch would pair up to compete in the Melbourne Performance Centre Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo 2 as former Formula 3 and current GT World Challenge Europe driver Alex Peroni joined Mark Rosser at Team BRM.

Triple Eight Racing’s driver lineup would consist of 2022 Super2 champion Declan Fraser and established GT driver Peter Hackett, as their V8 Supercar driver Will Brown would join Brad Schumacher as he stepped up to the Pro-Am category.  2024 Bathurst 6 Hour winner Jayden Ojeda would also join the grid in a sleek F1 inspired AMG GT3.  2022 Australian Formula Ford champion Valentino Astuti would be a late entry in what was my favourite car in the category: KMB Motorsport’s Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3.

​The track was still wet during the first practice session after morning rain hit Phillip Island, but that didn’t stop the Audi R8s sweeping the three fastest times.  Will Brown and Brad Schumacher topped the timesheets (1:34.945), nine tenths ahead of Alex Peroni and Mark Rosser (1:35.875) with Brendon Leitch and Tim Miles (1:35.944) rounding out the top three in Pro-Am.

Marcel Zalloua and Sergio Pires in the Valmont Racing Audi would be the quickest (1:37.260) in the Amateur class ahead of Michael Sheargold and Garth Walden (1:37.628) in the bold RAM Motorsport AMG GT3, with its livery inspired by Daft Punk’s ‘Alive 2007’ album cover.  Ash Samadi would put his Audi R8 LMS in third (1.39.097) in the Amatuer class as Tony Bates failed to make it out during the first practice.

The rain came back during the second practice session, leading most teams to end their running early.  The Arise Racing Ferrari’s were able to show their pace, however the top three were only separated by a thin five hundredth margin.  Chaz Mostert would set the quickest time (1:26.256) followed by Jayden Ojeda (1:26.275) who split the two Ferrari’s as Jaxon Evans and Elliot Schutte (1:27.307) were half a tenth behind Mostert.  

Michael Sheargold and Garth Walden (1:27.396) would this time pip Marcel Zalloua and Sergio Pires (1:27.800) by five tenths as Ben Schoots (1:28.572) brought the Black Wolf Motorsport AMG GT3 Evo to third in the Amateur class.

Qualifying would be split into two twenty-minute sessions, one for Race 1, the other for Race 2, with one driver from each car participating in one session each.

The Ferrari’s were blisteringly quick, especially through Turn 4, hugging the apex.  Chaz Mostert would put the Ferrari 296 GT3 on pole (1:25.170) for Race 1 as Brendon Grove (1:25.289) would join him on the front row.  Jayden Ojeda would qualify third (1:25.514) as Garth Walden would grab the pole (1:26.362) in Am class.

Liam Talbot would also put the #1 Ferrari on pole (1:25.810) for Race 2 and Elliot Schutte (1:26.631) would make it a front row lockout for Arise Racing although his late spin brought an early end to the session.  Brad Schumacher would put his Audi R8 in third (1.26.677) during his first qualifying session in Pro-Am, as Sergio Pires (1:27.567) would start the furthest forward for Race 2 in Am.

Post qualifying, penalties were handed out to the top three qualifiers for Race 1 including Chaz Mostert for speeding in the pitlane, meaning he would be given a five-place grid penalty before the race.

​This meant that the #8 Ferrari 296 GT3 would start on pole with Brad Schumacher alongside. Elliot Schutte would keep the lead in the first laps, but Paul Stockell would come from third to grab the lead before the pit window opened for driver changes.

The #181 Audi would come back out of the pits in second place, where Renee Gracie would unfortunately be tagged into Turn 2, spinning out of the podium positions.  Ash Samadi would suffer brake problems and Tony Bates would have an off at Turn 1, both cars retiring within laps of each other.

Liam Talbot and Chaz Mostert fought through the field to take the lead, and as the rain came, Brendon Leitch was closing in on the #1 Ferrari.  That was until the red flag came out for Ben Schoots who had crashed heavily on the front straight after losing control of his AMG GT3 in the wet.

With the barriers needing to be repaired, the race was called, and Liam Talbot and Chaz Mostert took the victory.  Tim Miles and Brendon Leitch were handed a penalty after Leitch overtook under yellow flags, dropping them from second to fourth and handing second place to Elliot Schutte and Jaxon Evans in the other Ferrari.  Brad Schumacher and Will Brown would grab third as Arise Racing and the Prancing Horse celebrated a 1-2 finish on debut.

Garth Walden and Michael Sheargold would grab the Am class victory, followed by brothers James and Theo Koundouris in the Supabarn Mercedes, as Marc Cini claimed third.

As is now customary at Speed Series events, fans would get to walk the grid before the second and final GT World Challenge race to get a closer look of the cars and drivers.  Jayden Ojeda grabbed the lead on lap one as cars went three wide on the front straight causing Garth Walden to spin across the grass and rejoin at Turn 4.  Bent steering received from the incident brought Walden into pitlane multiple times, eventually forcing him to retire.​

As the race reached the 25-minute mark, organised chaos would be among pitlane as drivers swapped over and tyre pressures were checked.  As Liam Talbot took over driving duties in the #1 Ferrari, he was forced to give way as he exited his pit box, leading to the engine needing to be restarted.  Talbot would then spin at Turn 2 and this mess caused a slower pit stop for the #8 Ferrari too.

The 1-hour race rolled on to its final stages, with Tim Miles taking the lead, however Brad Schumacher had fought his way to second and was breathing down the New Zealanders neck.  The Audi camps watched nervously as Brad Schumacher got closer and closer.  He got too close however, spinning on the exit of Southern Loop, into the clutches of Liam Talbot.  

The pressure was now gone from Tim Miles, grabbing the victory for the New Zealand pairing.  Jayden Ojeda and Paul Lucchitti finished strong in second place as Brad Schumacher and Will Brown held onto third by the skin of their teeth.

Ash Samadi would take the Am victory, with Tony Bates finally grabbing some good luck in second, as the Koundouris brothers found themselves on the podium again, this time in third.

As the GT World Challenge circus prepares for Round 2 at The Bend, Melbourne Performance Centre lead the team's championship by a single point ahead of Arise Racing, however, it is Liam Talbot and Chaz Mostert at the top of the driver's standings.

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