Monochrome GT4 Australia delivered one of its most entertaining qualifying sessions of the season at Hidden Valley Raceway, with the opening qualifying session producing the closest margins of the year, with less than three seconds covering the entire field.
Across both sessions, there were plenty of storylines as breakthrough performances and championship contenders shared the spotlight.
Silver CupBlake Purdie and Jobe Stewart continued their impressive weekend as the former put the #48 Purdie Racing/Team BRM Audi R8 LMS GT4 on pole position for Race 1 with a brilliant 1:09.821.
Although Team Soutar Motorsport's William Exton briefly held top spot after an early flying lap in the #114 McLaren Artura GT4, Purdie responded midway through the session and was never headed, while Exton held on for his and Jackson Johnson's best qualifying result of the season and their maiden front-row start.
Silver Cup leader Tom Hayman rounded out the top three in the #25 Method Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 after narrowly edging fellow title contender Blake Tracey by just over one thousandth of a second, with neither driver able to improve on their final runs.
Qualifying 2 belonged to RENNEN Motorsport's Jensen Shearer, who secured both his maiden Silver Cup pole position and Porsche's first ever Silver Cup pole in Monochrome GT4 Australia with a 1:09.859.
Locked in a thrilling battle with Method Motorsport's Jett Murray and Stewart throughout the session, Shearer repeatedly responded each time one of his rivals briefly moved to the top of the timesheets before eventually sealing pole by just eight hundredths of a second over Murray, with Stewart only one tenth further back.
The result made Shearer the fifth different Silver Cup pole sitter of the 2026 season.
Silver-Am Cup
Tufflift Racing by TSM enjoyed a dream qualifying performance, with Zac Soutar and Glenn Nirwan delivering pole positions in both Silver-Am sessions for the McLaren Artura GT4 outfit.
In Qualifying 1, Soutar proved untouchable for much of the session, posting a brilliant 1:10.102 to finish almost one and a half tenths of a second clear of the field, while also placing fifth outright among the highly competitive GT4 field.
Reigning champion Aaron Seton ensured Gomersall Motorsport would line up alongside the McLaren after producing a 1:10.250 in the Ford Mustang GT4, while LIQUI MOLY GT Festival Queensland Race 2 winner Caleb Paterson rounded out the top three for Norganic Proteins in the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS, ending the session just two tenths behind Soutar.
Nirwan backed up his teammate's performance in Qualifying 2, although the battle for pole proved considerably tighter as the Indonesian held off Method Motorsport's Dean Campbell by just three hundredths of a second.
Returning after missing the previous round, Kent Quinn enjoyed a strong comeback to the series by placing third for Norganic Proteins in the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS.
Despite a late off-track excursion during the session, Nirwan's pole position was never threatened as the second-year Monochrome GT4 Australia driver continued his impressive rise since joining the series last year.
Am Cup
The Am Cup again delivered close competition as the same three entries occupied the top three positions in both qualifying sessions.
Method Motorsport's Nathan Callaghan secured his and Chris Lillis' third pole position of the season in Qualifying 1, edging out fellow title contender Glenn Walker by less than four hundredths of a second after posting a 1:11.138.
Continuing his strong form since moving into the Am Cup, Jarrod Keyte completed the top three aboard the #21 Ekebol MPC Ford Mustang GT4.
Keyte went even better in Qualifying 2, producing a 1:11.101 to secure pole position by less than one tenth of a second over Walker and continue his impressive form since switching to the Am Cup.
Lillis left his best until the latter stages of the session to complete the top three, giving the current Am Cup leaders a strong opportunity to extend their championship advantage across the remainder of the weekend.
View full results here.
Monochrome GT4 Australia Race 1 gets underway at 1:10pm ACST today.
