Audi 1-2 in Australian GT with two rounds remaining

Coming into the Sydney Motorsport Park round of the 2015 Australian GT Championship, expectations in the Audi Sport customer racing Australia camp were high that they would move back into championship contention after a tough run at Phillip Island and Townsville respectively for title rivals Nathan Antunes and Christopher Mies.

In the end, it was smiles all round as Audi claimed both the round win and the lead in the points in both the outright and Trophy classes. Antunes claimed two podium finishes which elevated him back into the outright points lead ahead of team-mate – and race one winner – Christopher Mies, whilst in Trophy Class, Mark Griffith turned in a brilliant weekend to take the round, although title rivals and team-mates Greg Taylor and Barton Mawer retain the Trophy Class points lead.

Antunes was clearly looking to finish his weekend as the points leader, the local driver showed the value of his immense experience on the Sydney Motorsport Park [SMP] circuit to claim the top spot in practice, whilst Mies elected to give new Jamec-Pem Racing recruit Ryan Millier some additional seat time ahead of qualifying.

By the close of the two qualifying sessions though, Mies continued his tradition of qualifying on the front row in every round this season to be classified second fastest behind V8 Supercar part-timer Steve Owen, with Antunes immediately behind.

Barton Mawer – like Antunes – is a regular at SMP, so it was no surprise that the local driver qualified the Adina Apartments Trophy Class Audi R8 LMS inside the top ten, with Mark Griffith not too far back in the Hog’s Breath Café Audi R8 LMS. Jamec-Pem Racing team-boss Steve McLaughlan – again running alone – was a little further down the than he’d have liked, but he’s always admitted to being a better racer than qualifier, whilst Rob Smith, who was making his Australian GT debut, was finding improvement every session in the Southern Star Developments Audi R8 LMS.

Rnd#4 2015 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli

Sydney Motorsport Park, Eastern Creek, NSW (21-23 August)

Qualifying #1: (21 August)

1. Christopher Mies(Jamec-Pem Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra) – 1:28.0304
2. Nathan Antunes(Skwirk/Beechwood Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra) – 1:28.6681
3. Aaron Seton (Porsche GT3-R) – 1:29.1889
4. Glen Wood (Lamborghini Gallardo FL2 GT3) – 1:29.2456
5. Max Twigg (Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3) – 1:29.4225
6. Morgan Haber (Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3) – 1:29.5195
7. Klark Quinn (McLaren 650S GT3) – 1:29.7953
8. Tony Walls (McLaren 650S GT3) – 1:29.9190
9. Matt Campbell (Ginetta G55 GT3) – 1:29.9419
10. John Bowe (Bentley Continental GT3) – 1:29.9514
11. Mark Griffith(Hog’s Breath Audi R8 LMS GT3) – 1:31.1798
12. Steven McLaughlan(Jamec-Pem Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra) – 1:32.2997
13. Greg Taylor (Adina Apartments Audi R8 LMS GT3) – 1:33.3202
14. Rob Smith(Southern Star Dev. Audi R8 LMS GT3) – 1:38.0803

Qualifying #2: (21 August)

1. Steve Owen (Ford GT GT3) – 1:27.7472
2. Jono Lester (Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) – 1:28.7232
3. Morgan Haber (Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3) – 1:28.8277
4. Nathan Antunes(Skwirk/Beechwood Audi R8 GT3 ultra) – 1:28.8401
5. Grant Denyer (Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) – 1:29.3458
6. Barton Mawer(Adina Apartments Audi R8 LMS GT3) – 1:29.9543
7. Bradley Shiels (Porsche GT3-R) – 1:30.1747
8. Andrew Jones (Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) – 1:30.2122
9. Jack Le Brocq (Chevrolet Camaro GT3) – 1:30.4948
10. Tony Walls (McLaren 650S GT3) – 1:30.8136
11. Ryan Millier(Jamec-Pem Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra) – 1:30.9236
12. Mark Griffith(Hog’s Breath Audi R8 LMS GT3) – 1:32.8083
13. Steven McLaughlan(Jamec-Pem Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra) – 1:33.2674
14. Rob Smith(Southern Star Dev. Audi R8 LMS GT3) – 1:37.8195

Race#1 (60-minutes): (22 August)

1. Christopher Mies/Ryan Millier(Jamec-Pem Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra) – 31-laps
2. Nathan Antunes(Skwirk/Beechwood Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra)
3. Jono Lester/Graeme Smythe (Ferrari 458 Italia GT3)
4. Morgan Haber (Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3)
5. Grant Denyer (Ferrari 458 Italia GT3)
6. Klark Quinn (McLaren 650S GT3)
7. Max Twigg/Geoff Emery (Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3)
8. Nathan Morcom/Jack Le Brocq (Chevrolet Camaro GT3)
9. James Koundouris (Porsche GT3-R)
10. Tony Walls (McLaren 650S GT3)
11. Steven McLaughlan(Jamec-Pem Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra)
12. Greg Taylor/Barton Mawer(Adina Apartments Audi R8 LMS GT3) – 30-laps
13. Mark Griffith(Hog’s Breath Audi R8 LMS GT3)

DNF. Rob Smith (Southern Star Dev. Audi R8 LMS GT3) – 1-lap

Race#2 (60-minutes): (23 August)

1. Grant Denyer (Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) – 29-laps
2. Klark Quinn (McLaren 650S GT3)
3. Nathan Antunes(Skwirk/Beechwood Audi R8 GT3 ultra)
4. Ryan Millier/Christopher Mies(Jamec-Pem Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra)
5. Scott Taylor/Aaron Seton (Porsche GT3-R)
6. James Koundouris (Porsche GT3-R)
7. Mark Griffith(Hog’s Breath Audi R8 LMS GT3)
8. Barton Mawer/Greg Taylor (Adina Apartments Audi R8 LMS GT3)
9. Steven McLaughlan(Jamec-Pem Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra)
10. Andrew Macpherson/Bradley Shiels (Porsche GT3-R)
11. Rob Smith(Southern Star Dev. Audi R8 LMS GT3) – 28-laps

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

GT Championship Class


1. Nathan Antunes(446-points), 2. Christopher Mies (435), 3. Grant Denyer (353), 4. Tony Quinn (345), 5. Klark Quinn (329), 6. Greg Crick (300), 7. Jono Lester (297), 8. Max Twigg/Geoff Emery (273), 9. Tony D’Alberto (236), 10. James Koundouris (229), 12. Steven McLaughlan (189), 14. Ryan Millier (135), 18.Steven Johnson (99), 21. Peter Fitzgerald (87), 35. Rod Salmon (38)

GT Trophy Class

1. Greg Taylor/Barton Mawer(508-points), 2. Mark Griffith (477), 3. Theo Koundouris (468), 4. Simon Ellingham (321), 5. Jan Jinadasa (236), 22. Rob Smith (39)

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)