A dramatic first Monochrome GT4 Australia Race at Queensland Raceway has ended prematurely after a spectacular crash involving series debutant Ryan Hansford brought out the red flag.
With heavy rain falling over the Ipswich-based circuit during the series’ sole race of the day, the BMW Safety Car spent plenty of time on track in the highly interrupted affair.
And while the drama on the track was hot, no less than six cars were handed post-race penalties across the three classes.
Am Cup
Shane Smollen was one of the stars of the show during Race 1 as the Method Motorsport driver took out the Am Cup and ended up in top spot overall.
Having displayed a solid amount of pace early on in the day during qualifying, the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS was on another level on Saturday afternoon when it came to the race. After the post-race penalties took effect, Smollen ended up 14 seconds ahead of the next best crew in 99motorsport’s Marcus LaDelle and Jarrod Keyte in the Ford Mustang GT4.
Taking out third place for the class was Jamie Arratoon in his Mercedes-AMG GT4. The AR Nineteen Motorsport driver scored his first podium in the category since joining at the start of the year despite being handed a five second penalty.
Unfortunately, the class was responsible for one of the multiple Safety Car periods as Gomersall Motorsport’s Glenn Walker made contact with Arratoon’s AR Nineteen Motorsport team-mate Mark Griffith midway through the race. Both drivers failed to finish the race.
Silver Cup
From the first lap to the final moments of the race, the Silver Cup drivers were heavily involved in the drama throughout Race 1 as Ash Seward Motorsport’s Cody Burcher and Tim Leahey were deemed winners at the final classification.
Second place was the #25 Method Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 of Tom Hayman and Max Geoghegan despite receiving a 33-second penalty, while Jarrod Hughes and Summer Rintoule picked up their second top three finish after also receiving a penalty.
Right from the get-go, the incidents piled up with pole sitter Audi driver Blake Purdie and Mercedes fast man Jake Camilleri both crashing out on the opening lap. Camilleri slid off the track and ended in the wall just seconds before Purdie was tapped from behind and sent spinning into the tyre barrier.
The second Method Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 of Lochie Hennock and Nathan Morcom was involved with the Ryan Hansford crash at the end of the race, with Hennock making contact with Hansford that resulted in the incident.
It was a race to forget for the pair after they received their first penalty for a safety car breach early before receiving another penalty for Hennock’s involvement with Hansford.
Silver-Am Cup
GWR’s Daniel Frougas and Tim Berryman finished with a surprise victory in the wake of the multiple penalties handed out post-race – marking the first victory for the Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO 2 in the category.
While Hansford and Aaron Cameron were granted the provisional win despite their big crash, with red flag rulings coming into play – a 33-second post-race penalty saw them drop to second in class.
The Ford Mustang ended up being classified ahead of the Chris White and Tony Quinn Toyota Supra EVO 2, which marked a highly successful day for the Japanese marque.
Rounding out the top five was a pair of Ford Mustang GT4s with Gomersall Motorsport’s Aaron Seton and Jason Gomersall leading the way from Cameron Crick and Dean Campbell across the line.
Monochrome GT4 Australia continues today with Race 2 at 9:45am AEST.