TALBOT AND VAN GISBERGEN TEAM UP FOR TAILEM BEND
Shane van Gisbergen will team up with Liam Talbot for the second round of the Australian Endurance Championship – Photo: Supplied
Australian GT race winners Liam Talbot and Shane van Gisbergen will team up for the second round of the CAMS Australian Endurance Championship this weekend at The Bend Motorsport Park.
The pair will both make their return to the series behind the wheel of Trofeo Motorsport’s Lamborghini Huracan GT3 at Australia’s newest circuit just outside Tailem Bend in South Australia.
Fresh off his race win in Townsville, Supercars star van Gisbergen will make it three of Red Bull Holden Racing’s drivers on the grid for round two of the Australian Endurance Championship, joining Garth Tander (Audi) and Jamie Whincup (Mercedes AMG) who took part in the first round at Phillip Island.
While the pair have never raced together, both van Gisbergen and Talbot bring a wealth of GT3 experience. The Kiwi racer has completed plenty of laps behind the wheel of a GT3 car, most notably across recent years at the helm of a McLaren in both local and international competition, whilst also serving cameos alongside Tony Quinn in his thundering V12 Aston Martin in past Australian Endurance Championship rounds.
Liam Talbot makes his Australian GT return – Photo: InSyde Media
2018 Australian GT race winner and title contender Talbot, the journeyman driver making a welcome welcome return to the category from the one-make Carrera Cup series this year where he has impressed in the Pro-Am division.
12-months ago Talbot and teamed up with John Martin at the very first Australian Endurance Championship event at the new Bend to finish in second position outright after leading the opening leg of the three-hour race.
“Every time Shane gets behind the wheel of a GT3 car it’s exciting,” Australian GT Category Manager David Vervaart admitted.
“Whether it’s Australia, Europe or the USA he’s always competitive and he likes to run at the front, so I think those teams that featured strongly at Phillip Island will need to keep a close eye on the menacing black Lamborghini!”
The second round of the Australian Endurance Championship will also serve as round four of the CAMS Australian GT Championship (for both GT3 and GT4).
2017/2018 AGT champion Geoff Emery currently leads both categories heading into the weekend, although his rivals aren’t too far behind in the points battle suggesting that whilst the action will be intense across the event, that finishing will be the main focus.
One team they will all be keeping an eye on though is Jamie Whincup and The Bend’s own Yasser Shahin, the two drivers looking to make amends for a challenging run at Phillip Island after showing impressive pace across the weekend, and it is the #777 car that set the quickest time during qualifying last year in the hands of Luke Youlden.
The Australian GT teams will have an opportunity to turn laps at The Bend on Thursday ahead of the round with approved private testing available at the circuit, ahead of two official practice sessions on Friday and qualifying early Saturday morning.
The three-hour race will get underway at 2:50pm (South Australian time) on Saturday afternoon with the finish coming in twilight conditions with headlights ablaze.
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