Qualifying for LIQUI MOLY GT Festival The Bend has been completed with plenty of mixed results amongst all three classes in what were challenging wet conditions.
While 31 cars started the double session, unfortunately not every car finished as the #118 Method Motorsport Ford Mustang GT4 ended up in the wall - bringing out the red flag for a large portion.
Outside of the incident, it was a straightforward outing for the rest of the period as the grid was set for today’s race.
Silver-Am
Topping the timesheets in Silver-Am was the #88 CAMM Quarries/Concrete Racing GR Supra EVO 2, as Lachlan Evennett’s fastest time of 2:08.862 proved unbeaten by anyone in the field.
Second fastest in the Silver-Am class was another GR Supra EVO 2 with Game Over’s Matthew McCutcheon eight tenths of a second slower - a remarkable effort considering it was his first ever qualifying at the circuit.
Rounding out the top three was Norganic Proteins’ Caleb Paterson 2:09.861 in the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS he shares with Kent Quinn, as he was just two tenths off the pace.
In Qualifying 2, Glenn Nirwan produced one of his best laps in Monochrome GT4 Australia as he secured class pole for the first time.
Behind the wheel of the Tufflift Racing by TSM McLaren Artura GT4, Nirwan posted a lap time of 2:09.433, which was more than one second faster than the next Silver-Am entry of Jarrod Keyte in Ekebol / Team MPC Ford Mustang GT4.
Like Qualifying 1, it was the Norganic Proteins Porsche 718 Cayman which qualified third, with Quinn one tenth off Keyte.
Silver
Multispares Racing’s Aaron Cameron was fastest overall in the Silver class for Qualifying 1, completing the fastest lap of 2:08.942 in his Ford Mustang GT4 he shares with Lochie Dalton.
Following a perfect day yesterday of topping the timesheets in both Practice sessions, Purdie Racing’s Blake Purdie went second in class - almost half a second slower than Cameron, while Miedecke Motorsport with Lubrimaxx’s Blake Tracey steering his Ford Mustang GT4 to third, a further two tenths off Purdie.
In Qualifying 2, GWR Australia’s Daniel Frougas continued his solid start to the season by putting the team’s GR Supra EVO 2 on pole for tomorrow’s race.
With a time of 2:07.514, Frougas’ lap time proved more than seven tenths faster than the next fastest entry, which was Purdie’s teammate Jobe Stewart, who enjoyed a decent maiden qualifying run in the category.
The Audi ended up splitting the two GR Supras in the class, as DNA Autosport’s Tayler Bryant qualified third just three hundredths off Stewart.
Am Cup
Glenn Walker from Gomersall Motorsport was fastest overall in the Am class during Qualifying 1, setting the fastest time of 2:11.738 in his Ford Mustang GT4.
In what was a dominant run from Walker, more than two seconds separated him and the Love Racing by TSM Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Bailey Love, who was second for the session.
Qualifying third fastest of the session was Ryan Sorensen in Method Motorsport with his best time three tenths off Love.
In Qualifying 2, Chris Lillis put the Method Motorsport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS on pole position, going one second faster than Sorensen, who ended up second for the session.
While Walker topped qualifying in the first session, he ended up third in the second with his time of 2:11.321 eight tenths off the Porsche of Lillis.
Monochrome GT4 Australia will hold its first race of the Shannons SpeedSeries LIQUI MOLY GT Festival The Bend at 1:05pm ACST.