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NEW GT ERA DAWNS

New GT era dawns - Image: Supplied

By Bruce Williams

New GT era dawns - Image: Supplied

New GT era dawns – Image: Supplied

GT racing in Australia enters a new era at Phillip Island this weekend as a 20-car field contests the opening round of the GT World Challenge Australia Series.

By HEATH McALPINE

It marks the first round of the joint venture between international GT promoters, Stephane Ratel Organisation and the Australian Racing Group. It follows the same concept of which the SRO has launched in Asia, America and Europe.

“Twenty cars for the return of top-line GT racing is a great result for the first event and I’m proud of the entrants who are getting back in their awesome cars and entertaining us all,” said category manager Ken Collier.

“It actually looked like we were going to have even more than 20 cars, but a couple of teams withdrew late, so the good news there is that we know the interest is there for GT3 racing in Australia.

“With big events coming up soon at Mount Panorama and The Bend, I wouldn’t be surprised if we have over 25 cars entering sooner rather than later.

“And there’s a great calibre of drivers and cars there too. It’s almost too hard to predict who is going to win, so it’s going to make for some great viewing, whether you are at home watching the TV, or trackside at Phillip Island.”

Outright contenders will represent Porsche, Aston Martin, Audi, Lamborghini, Mercedes and Ferrari, which is backed up by a GT Trophy field making up half the entries.

Supercars star Chaz Mostert will contest the dual one-hour races alongside Tony Bates in an Audi R8 LMS GT3, as will Garth Tander in the same model pairing with Yasser Shahin.

Jamie Whincup replaces Shane van Gisbergen in Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 in partnering alongside Prince Jefri Ibrahim.

Tony Quinn will debut his current spec Aston Martin Vantage GT3, while Bathurst 12 Hour winning team Maranello Motorsport returns with Peter Edwards and Adrian Deitz sharing a Ferrari 488 GT3.

Andrew MacPherson and Ben Porter return to local national-level GT racing after racing in Asia, sharing a Lamborghini Huracan GT3.

The championship field is completed by former Formula Holden driver Arthur Abrahams in an Audi.

The German marque is the most populous on the grid thanks to seven R8 LMS GT3s of various spec in Trophy alone led by former class winner Greg Taylor, Matt Stoupas, Vince Muriti, Brad Schumacher and Nick Kelly.

Adding variety is the Ferrari 458 GT3 of Wayne Mack, the Nissan GT-R GT3 of Brett Hobson, Michael bailey’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and the bellowing Chevrolet Camaro GT3 of Dale Patterson.

Mark Griffith drives the lone GT4 entry, a Mercedes-AMG GT4.

Last week it was confirmed the title will contest two 60-minute races at The Bend Motorsport Park supporting the Supercars Championship in May for Round 3.

The Motorsport Australia Endurance Championship will be contested across two events later in the season, starting at The Bend in October and finishing at the Bathurst International event in November in two three hour events.

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