After winning the inaugural Monochrome GT4 Australia title last year there has been a lot of change for Shane Smollen, but he’s still on top.
An early adopter of GT4, Smollen currently leads the Pro-Am Cup standings alongside new full-time addition Lachlan Mineeff in a Porsche 718 Cayman MR CS prepared and run by Method Motorsport.
Four wins for the duo this season and a comfortable lead in the Pro-Am Cup highlights the continuation of Smollen’s success despite the changes.
“Generally we’ve been happy with our season,” said Smollen.
“We’ve had a bit of bad luck with an incident at the opening round and a brake issue at Queensland Raceway, but generally speaking I think we’ve had a good, consistent run.”
Although Smollen’s Porsche runs under the banner of Method Motorsport, there is still some of the DNA from his title winning season last year.
“I’m just a good believer of if you spend time with good people there’s a direct benefit,” Smollen explained.
“I’m at the stage and age of my career where I need to try pretty hard to keep improving.
“It’s good to have someone like Chaz in my corner, a great engineering group and yet still keep the nucleus of what’s now been a 15-year relationship with the Autohaus Hamilton boys led by Grant Gill and his team.
“It’s just a really good combination.”
Adding Mineeff as a co-driver for this season following a cameo at Queensland Raceway last year has proved a success.
“Lachlan is a mature kid, he’s 21 and great to work with,” lauded Smollen.
“He’s positive, but still competitive and always searching for every last thousandth. “Bringing a great attitude and a lot of ability to the table, Lachlan has been good this season.”
The two remaining rounds at Sydney Motorsport Park and Bathurst are among Smollen’s best providing the perfect conclusion to the season.
“Even though I’ve moved back to Queensland, I still acknowledge Sydney Motorsport Park as my home track and I love it,” he said.
“SMP sits up there with Phillip Island and Bathurst as my favourite tracks in Australia.
“To go from Sydney into Bathurst is just a great way to complete the year.”
As one of the early adopters of GT4, Smollen has witnessed the rapid growth during the last two years.
“It’s heading in a good direction,” Smollen reflected.
“There’s still from round-to-round a bunch of cars sitting in garages and once a few more have landed. With more people coming out to play I think it’s going to be an impressive series. I think we can expect to see grids of 25 to 30 cars.”
The next round of Monochrome GT4 Australia is part of the Shannons SpeedSeries event at Sydney Motorsport Park on October 18-20.