AUSTRALIAN GT TO GO LONG WAY AROUND THE BEND
Australian GT head to The Bend for Round 2 – Photo: Rhys Vandersyde
The Australian GT Championship heads to The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia this weekend for a history-making endurance round.
A world-class facility, The Bend Motorsport Park will host its first ever competitive motorsport event, with Australian GT joining the Shannons Nationals for the monumental event.
Australian GT will utilise the extended ‘GT’ layout of the recently completed circuit. The 7.77km lap makes it the second longest permanent motor racing circuit in the world.
The new venue has attracted a field of 21-cars for the weekend, which also doubles as the opening round of the 2018 CAMS Australian Endurance Championship. Competitors will battle it out over 68 racing laps, which equates to more than 500km of GT racing across the two days.
The competition will use a unique format, splitting the race across two parts, over two days. The opening 24 lap segment will be held Saturday evening, with a dramatic twilight ending. With the second leg to be completed Sunday morning.
Heading to The Bend, Jaie Robson (156pts) heads the Australian GT Championship after a stunning debut at Albert Park for the opening round last month.
Close behind is 2017 Australian GT Champion Geoff Emery and 2017 Australian Endurance Champion Peter Hackett, the pair tied on 135 points after the first of the season’s six rounds.
Joining them on track will be a number of leading Supercars stars, with Shane van Gisbergen, David Reynolds and Garth Tander joining the field for the event.
Australian GT Championship – Round 2 – Entry List
| # | Class | Sponsor | Drivers | Car |
| 1 | CH | Valvoline | Geoff Emery/Garth Tander | Audi R8 LMS |
| 3 | CH | Ah Apartments | Ash Samadi/Dylan O’Keeffe | Audi R8 LMS |
| 4 | GT4 | BP Ultimate | Steve Richards/Michael Almond | BMW M4 GT4 |
| 6 | CH | Timken Zagame Motorsport | Adrian Deitz/Cameron McConville | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 |
| 7 | CH | Mariani Beef Jerky | Tony Quinn/Shane van Gisbergen | Mclaren 650S GT3 |
| 8 | CH | WM Waste Management | Max Twigg/Tony D’Alberto | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| 11 | CH | Objective Racing | Tony Walls/Warren Luff | McLaren 650S GT3 |
| 19 | GT4 | Hogs Breath Café / Griffith Corporation | Mark Griffith/TBA | Ginetta GT4 |
| 24 | CH | KFC/Ctech Laser/Moveitnet/B&B | Tony Bates/Daniel Gaunt | Audi R8 LMS |
| 29 | CH | Haemokinesis / Trofeo Estate / FreeM | Jim Manolios/Dean Canto | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 |
| 48 | GT4 | Interlloy / M Motorsport | Justin McMillan/Glenn Wood | Reiter KTM X-Bow |
| 50 | GT4 | Interlloy / M Motorsport | David Crampton/Trent Harrison | Reiter KTM X-Bow |
| 59 | CH | Total Oil / Opti-Coat / Logitech | Fraser Ross/Duvashen Padayachee | McLaren 650S GT3 |
| 63 | CH | Eggleston Motorsport | Peter Hackett/Jake Fouracre | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| 67 | GT4 | JMG / Bilstein | Jeremy Gray/Andrew Miedecke | Aston Martin Vantage GT4 |
| 88 | CH | Maranello Motorsport | Peter Edwards/John Bowe | Ferrari 488 GT3 |
| 98 | CH | Aussie Driver Search | Jaie Robson/David Reynolds | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| 100 | CH | BMW Team SRM | Steve Richards/Dean Grant | BMW M6 GT3 |
| 222 | CH | Scott Taylor Motorsport | Scott Taylor/Craig Baird | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| 777 | CH | The Bend Motor Sport Park | Yasser Shahin/Luke Youlden | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| 911 | CH | Walkinshaw GT3 | Liam Talbot/John Martin | Porsche 911 GT3-R |
Australian GT Championship – The Bend – Schedule
Friday, April 13
15:35 – Practice (60mins)
Saturday, April 14
12:30 – Driver A Qualifying (30mins)
13:15 – Driver B Qualifying (30mins)
17:00 – Race Part 1 (24 laps)
Sunday, April 15
10:40 – Race Part 2 (44 laps)
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