Solid progress for M-Motorsport in Townsville

The M-Motorsport/Interlloy team traveled north to the streets of Townsville for Rnd#3 of the Australian GT Championship, looking for a solid result on a circuit they felt much better suited the Reiter Engineering built Camaro than the fast flowing Phillip Island venue on which they last competed.

Having claimed pole position at Townsville in their Reiter-built Lamborghini Gallardo in 2014, team-leader Justin McMillan was expecting to be right in the mix on the demanding street circuit, and whilst the end result for he and rising young star Jack Le Brocq wasn’t everything they were hoping for, there were still plenty of positives.

Limited practice saw both Le Brocq and McMillan behind the wheel on Friday for the single timed session, before an afternoon qualifying session saw McMillan turn out the 13th fastest time in the 32-car field.

Le Brocq too impressed in the second qualifier to be 12th fastest and just a second off a third row start, although both drivers admitted they were pretty ‘busy’ during their qualifying laps, and both impacted by traffic.

McMillan started the Interlloy-liveried crowd favourite in race one, making gains off the start before settling into a comfortable rhythm behind the John Bowe Bentley.

Coming out of one of the tight right-handers, McMillan got on the throttle and the car immediately stepped into oversteer, although this time he wasn’t able to catch it.

Sadly, whilst the car was relatively undamaged, the result meant that Le Brocq would be forced to start at the rear of the 32-car field but he quickly, and cautiously worked his way through the field to be inside the top 15 by lap ten, the V8 Supercar Development Series driver one of the fastest cars on track.

Pitting just off the tail of the top ten, McMillan dived into the car, punching out a string of consistent laps to find himself caught up in the race for the lead over the closing laps.

Whilst M-Motorsport will be working closely with Reiter Engineering to further improve the car, McMillan too has his own plans to get further knowledge of the popular American inspired GT3 car, revealing that he will join Clipsal 500 partner Tomas Enge in a 12-Hour GT race in the Czech Republic later in the year.

The fourth round of the Australian GT Championship will be held once more on the V8 Supercar program, on the weekend of 11-13 September at Sydney Motorsport Park in Eastern Creek.

Rnd#3 2015 Australian GT Championship

Townsville, Queensland (10-12 July)

Qualifying #1: (10 July)

1. Tony D’Alberto (Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) – 1:12.9713
2. Steve Owen (Ford GT GT3) – 1:13.4001
3. Nathan Antunes (Skwirk/Beechwood Audi R8 GT3 ultra) – 1:13.4746
4. Klark Quinn (McLaren 650S GT3) – 1:13.7628
5. Graeme Smythe (Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) – 1:13.8080
6. James Koundouris (Porsche GT3-R) – 1:14.1658
7. Justin McMillan (Interlloy Chevrolet Camaro GT3) – 1:15.7446

Qualifying #2: (11 July)

1. Jono Lester (Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) – 1:12.1179
2. Christopher Mies (Jamec-Pem Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra) – 1:12.1639
3. Nathan Antunes (Skwirk/Beechwood Audi R8 GT3 ultra) – 1:12.6556
4. Bradley Shiels (Porsche GT3-R) – 1:12.8518
5. Grant Denyer (Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) – 1:12.9519
6. Klark Quinn (McLaren 650S GT3) – 1:12.9997
7. Jack Le Brocq (Interlloy Chevrolet Camaro GT3) – 1:14.0345

Race#1 (60-minutes): (11 July)

1. Tony D’Alberto/Grant Denyer (Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) – 46-laps
2. Tony Quinn (McLaren 650S GT3)
3. Max Twigg/Geoff Emery (Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3)
4. Nathan Antunes (Skwirk/Beechwood Audi R8 GT3 ultra)
5. James Koundouris (Porsche GT3-R)
6. John Magro (Lamborghini Gallardo FL2 GT3)

DNF. Justin McMillan/Jack Le Brocq (Interlloy Chevrolet Camaro GT3) – 7-laps

Race#2 (60-minutes): (12 July)

1. Nathan Antunes (Skwirk/Beechwood Audi R8 GT3 ultra) – 43-laps
2. Tony D’Alberto/Grant Denyer (Ferrari 458 Italia GT3)
3. Klark Quinn (McLaren 650S GT3)
4. Tony Walls (McLaren 650S GT3)
5. Tony Quinn (McLaren 650S GT3)
6. Steven McLaughlan (Jamec-Pem Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra)
7. Jack Le Brocq/Justin McMillan (Interlloy Chevrolet Camaro GT3) – 42-laps

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2015 Australian GT Championship (points after round three of six)

GT Championship Class

1. Tony Quinn (330-points), 2. Nathan Antunes (318), 3. Christopher Mies/Greg Crick (300), 4. Tony D’Alberto/Grant Denyer (236), 5. Klark Quinn (234), 6. Max Twigg/Geoff Emery (229), 7. Jono Lester (216), 8. James Koundouris (178), 9. Tony Walls (165), 10. Steven McLaughlan (150), 21. Justin McMillan (60), 29. Jack Le Brocq (34)

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2015 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli

Rnd#1 – 26 February-1 March, Clipsal 500, Adelaide, SA*

Rnd#2 – 22-24 May, Phillip Island, Victoria**

Rnd#3 – 10-12 July, Townsville, Queensland*

Rnd#4 – 21-23 August, Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW*

Rnd#5 – 11-13 September, Sandown 500, Melbourne, Victoria*

Rnd#6 – 13-15 November, Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell, NZ

(* with V8 Supercars, ** with the Shannons Nationals)