GT World Challenge Australia kicks off this weekend

A strong field of GT machinery will kick off the second Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS season at Phillip Island on 18 to 20 March 2022.

The line-up is headed by reigning champion, Yasser Shahin, in one of eight upgraded Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo IIs, partnered by German Audi Sport ace, Christopher Mies.

Shahin’s main rival, Prince Jefri Ibrahim, continues with Triple Eight Race Engineering and the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in 2022, joined by reigning Supercars champion, Shane van Gisbergen.

Stephen and Brenton Grove also return for season two driving a Porsche 991 GT3R, a model brand new to the team last year.

After contesting a limited schedule last year, reigning Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series winner, Chaz Mostert, will return to the grid with Liam Talbot in another current specification Audi.

Completing the strong Pro-Am field is the Wall Racing Lamborghini Huracan Evo GT3 of Adrian Deitz, partnered by the team’s Honda-supported Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series driver, Tony D’alberto.

The Am Class is led by reigning drivers, Andrew MacPherson and Ben Porter, in the AMAC Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan Evo GT3. Gary Higgon will again be partnered by former triple Australian Gold Star winner, Paul Stokell, in one of two KFC sponsored Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo IIs, the other to be driven by Matt Stoupas.

Other Audi mounted Am teams include experienced brothers, James and Theo Koundouris, South Australian, Mark Rosser, and Marc Cini.

RAM Motorsport is the sole Mercedes-AMG GT3 representative in the class, but will be contenders with Garth Walden and Mike Sheargold spearheading the entry.

GT Trophy was a closely fought affair in 2021, with Brad Schumacher returning to the class driving the Audi he debuted at Bathurst last year. Runner-up, Brett Hobson, will debut his newer Nissan GT-R GT3 at Phillip Island and the fan favourite Bentley Continental GT3, piloted by Michael Bailey, will also return.

Vince Muriti in his Mercedes-AMG GT3 and the Dean Koutsoumidis in a Porsche 911 GT3R ensure variety continues in Trophy Class.

GT4 entries received a boost via Mark Griffith’s Mercedes-AMG GT4 and a similar example driven by Sam Brabham and Spiros Poulakis.

Experienced Porsche racer, Madeline Stewart, will also contest the class in a Ginetta GT4 while a GTC-spec Porsche for Eric Constantinidis rounds out the entries list.

The opening round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia consists of two one-hour races, with the six-round calendar taking in Bathurst twice, Queensland Raceway, Sandown and The Bend Motorsport Park.

TRACK SCHEDULE

Friday, March 18

10:50am-11:15am Practice 1

1:10pm-1:40pm Practice 2

4:00pm-4:20pm Qualifying 1

4:25pm-4:45pm Qualifying 2

Saturday, March 19

1:45pm-2:45pm Race 1

Sunday, March 20

1:45pm-2:45pm Race 2

STAN SPORT TV SCHEDULE

Saturday, March 19

11:00am – 5:00pm

Sunday, March 20

11:00am – 5:00pm

ENTRY LIST, ROUND 1, PHILLIP ISLAND

Car #     Class                   Driver 1/Driver 2                                       Car Type

1            Pro-Am               Yasser Shahin/Christopher Mies              Audi R8 GT3 LMS evo II GT3

2            Am                      Gary Higgon/Paul Stokell                           Audi R8 GT3 LMS evo II GT3

4            Pro-Am               Stephen Grove/Brenton Grove                Porsche GT3-R 911-II

6            Pro-Am               Adrian Deitz/Tony D’alberto                     Lamborghini Huracan Evo GT3

11          Trophy/GTC       Eric Constantinidis          –                         Porsche 991 GT3 Cup Car Gen2

17          Am                      Mark Rosser      –                                        Audi R8 GT3 LMS evo II GT3

19          GT4                     Mark Griffith     –                                        Mercedes-AMG GT4

23          Am                      Matt Stoupas    –                                         Audi R8 GT3 LMS evo II GT3

24          Pro-Am               Tony Bates/David Reynolds                      Audi R8 GT3 LMS evo II GT3

33          Trophy               Vince Muriti       –                                         Mercedes-AMG GT3

34          GT4                     Ross Poulakis/Sam Brabham                    Mercedes-AMG GT4

38          Trophy               Michael Bailey   –                                         Bentley Continental GT3

45          Am                      Mike Sheargold/Garth Walden                Mercedes-AMG GT3

47          Am                      James Koundouris/Theo Koundouris      Audi R8 GT3 LMS evo II GT3

51          Am                      Andrew Macpherson/Ben Porter             Lamborghini Huracan Evo GT3

55          Trophy               Brad Schumacher           –                          Audi R8 LMS GT3

65          Pro-Am               Liam Talbot/Chaz Mostert                        Audi R8 GT3 LMS evo II GT3

71          Trophy               Dean Koutsoumidis        –                          Porsche 997 GT3-R

96          Trophy               Brett Hobson     –                                        Nissan GT-R GT3

888        Pro-Am               Jefri Ibrahim/Shane van Gisbergen         Mercedes-AMG GT3

TBA       Inv/GT4               Madeline Stewart           –                          Ginetta GT4