It may have been a flawless performance from the Miedecke Motorsport/Lubrimaxx team of George Miedecke and Rylan Gray to win the final Silver Cup race of the season, but the pair just fell short of the 2024 class title.
The year-long rivalry between Ford and McLaren came to a thrilling end as Method Motorsport took the title in its first season courtesy of Marcos Flack and Tom Hayman driving the McLaren Artura GT4 to third in Silver Cup.
Splitting the Silver Cup title contenders was an impressive performance from Jake Camilleri in the Gomersall Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4.
A storming comeback drive from the Buckby Motorsport squad led to a last gasp victory in Pro-Am Cup for Lochie Dalton and Ben Newman after stopping on track at Quarry Bend during the opening stint.
Pro-Am Cup champions Lachlan Mineeff and Shane Smollen were forced to settle for second in the Method Motorsport Porsche 718 Cayman CS RS, with Ryder Quinn charging to the final step of the podium alongside Steve Jakic in the Black Diamond Building and Construction BMW M4 GT4 G82.
Fittingly, John Bowe and Jacob Lawrence took the final win of the season in Am Cup, with the Randall Racing BMW being the class of the field all season.
Anthony Soole and Grant Denyer fell short of repeating their class-winning success in Race 1 in the Property Investment Store McLaren 570s to be second, debutants Ramu Farrell and Andrew Georgiadis rounded out the Am Cup podium in the TekworkX Motorsport Porsche.
The final race of the season was delayed at the start when the Randall Racing BMW of Jamie Augustine and Peter Lawrence failed to launch during the reconnaissance lap. The team had completed an all-night repair following an incident in Race 1, which ended in disappointment.
It was Gray leading from pole when the race started, but had Hayman as his shadow for much of the first stint, which would prove favourable for the Method Motorsport McLaren due to the Mustang requiring extra compensation time due to its runner up finish in Race 1.
The class’ battle for third saw Camilleri put himself within striking distance of opening race winner Cody Burcher in the Central West Prestige BMW, after being on the back foot after the opening laps.
An entertaining battle was taking place once again in Pro-Am Cup, as Dan Jilesen led Smollen and Jason Gomersall’s Ford Mustang in the TekworkX Motorsport Porsche, while in the AM Cup, it was Denyer who led the early phases over from Lawrence and Levitt.
When the pit stops occurred at the halfway stage of the race, it was the Silver Cup’s Miedecke Motorsport crew pulling the trigger first and bringing Gray for Miedecke in an attempt to produce an undercut.
While it proved unsuccessful, a determined Miedecke caught and passed the Method Motorsport McLaren - highlighting the horsepower of the Mustang up the climb of Mountain Straight, Miedecke successfully overtook his title rival.
Flack remained in the fight briefly, but would soon drop to third when Camilleri eventually came charging and successfully passed him. Although he lost the position, it was enough to score enough points for the Silver Cup title.
In the AM Cup, Lawrence was able to hammer down his advantage during the final stint from the Property Solution Store McLaren, but third was far less straightforward.
Love Racing by Volante Rosso Motorsport’s Bailey Love, Anthony Levitt in the Method Motorsport McLaren, the Am Cup TekworkX Porsche and Mark Griffith’s Team Nineteen Mercedes-AMG GT4 were all jostling for the final step of the podium.
As the race entered its conclusion, Griffith was taken out of the battle for third by the Pro-Am Zagame Autosport McLaren at Forrest’s Elbow - ultimately dropping him down the order.
In Pro-Am, Dalton was charging and had disposed of all his rivals bar one - the Pro-Am Cup winning Method Motorsport Porsche.
Dalton caught Mineeff in the closing stages and successfully completed the move for the class lead at Hell Corner.
With the series to hold its official Awards Ceremony on Sunday night, Monochrome GT4 Australia will kick off its 2025 campaign at Phillip Island on April 4-6.