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GT WORLD CHALLENGE AUSTRALIA RENEWS BATTLE AT QUEENSLAND RACEWAY

By Timothy Neal

This weekend sees the long awaited return of the GT World Challenge Australia at the Queensland Raceway SpeedSeries in Ipswich, with Mercedes going head to head with Audi.

In a frantic run home of races to close the season this year, it all begins on Friday in the practice sessions, before the weekend ushers in the Qualifiers and two 60 minute races on the Saturday and Sunday.

Fans can look forward to a royal pairing in the shape of Supercars king Shane van Gisbergen and Malaysian Prince Jefri Ibrahim, as they lead the fortunes of the Mercedes AMG into combat.

The pairing will renew their Triple Eight Engineering partnership sitting fourth on the table, and with the superlative form of Shane van Gisbergen in the Supercars, expect a highly competitive outing from the AMG.

Liam Talbot’s usual Audi R8 co-driver Fraser Ross returns to the fold, replacing Supercars driver Chaz Mostert who stepped in for the Pro Am class in round 1.

“Liam’s leading the title so hopefully we can have some good success, last time we paired up we won the round at Bathurst last December,” said Ross, who’ll be pairing in his Audi R8 GT3.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Queensland Raceway, so I’m looking forward to going there and the Audi seems to be the car to have at the moment. Every time we get it out of the truck it is always there or thereabouts and I’m looking forward to re-joining the MPC crew.”

Level on points at the top of the standings with Talbot and Ross, the Audi of Yasser Shahin will be partnered with the legendary Garth Tander, making his return to the category alongside the reigning GT Challenge champion.

Last season, the formidable duo took the Audi R8 to four victories, helping Shahin to a 65 point, overall championship romp.

After their debut in a GT4 at Phillip island, Harrolds Racing will step up to a Mercedes AMG GT3 with the experienced pairing of Peter Hackett and Ross Poulakis in the Pro Am.

In the Am class, a three pronged Audi attack will feature leader Matt Stoupas alongside teammates Gary Higgon and Paul Stokell, whilst Mark Rosser returns alongside James and Theo Koundouris.

The GT trophy will also feature an Audi dominant field, with leader Brad Schumacher joined by category debutant Michael Kokkinos, the latter moving up from the Victorian Sports Car Championship.

Adding further completion to the GT Trophy ranks, will be Scott Taylor in his Porsche 997 GT3R.

The SpeedSeries at the revamped Queensland Raceway is a welcome return to racing at the track, with seven categories taking part over the three days.

Stan Sport will be televising the event over the Saturday and Sunday between 11am-5pm.

International viewers can watch the action via motorsport.tv

To be trackside at Queensland Raceway, CLICK HERE for tickets.

For more of the latest motorsport news pick up the current issue of Auto Action.