D’ALBERTO & TWIGG WIN AT THE BEND

Tony D’Alberto and Max Twigg triumph at The Bend – Photo: Rhys Vandersyde

OVERCOMING A late safety car that closed the field, Tony D’Alberto brought home the Mercedes-Benz GTS he shared with Max Twigg in first place in round two of the CAMS Australian GT Championship at The Bend.

The new facility played host to the opening Shannons Nationals of which the 160-minute race was a feature. It was originally supposed to run on the 7.7km 35-turn GT circuit configuration using the Endurance2 format – split with a break overnight.

But after concerns over safety given the dust storms in the lead-up, the race became an Endurance1 format single race, on the 4.9km International track.

Tony D’Alberto lead after the pit stops – Photo: Rhys Vandersyde

D’Alberto and Twigg headed Liam Talbot and John Martin (Porsche 911 GT3-R) and Steve Richards and Michael Almond BMW M6 in the third spot.

The Talbot/Martin entry held second for much of the race after two early safety cars eliminated the lead Martin had built up.

Liam Talbot and John Martin held second for the majority of the race – Photo: Rhys Vandersyde

Richards came close to Martin in the dying stages of the race, but with only a handful of laps remaining, he was unable to bridge the gap. Fourth went to the Tony Bates/Daniel Gaunt Audi R8 LMS ahead of the Fraser Ross/Duvashen Padayachee McLaren 650S.

In GT4 Class, the KTM X-Bow piloted by Justin McMillan and Glen Wood were the class winners over Jeremy Gray and Andrew Miedecke (Aston Martin Vantage GT4) as David Crampton and Trent Harrison (KTM) were third.

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