Fanatec GT World Challenge Powered by AWS

A new manufacturer has joined the winners list in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS 2023 season after Yasser Shahin and Garnet Patterson powered their Porsche to victory in the opening race.  

After spending the first stint of the race behind Liam Talbot and Max Hofer’s Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2, Shahin and Patterson were able to take advantage when an incident between Talbot and Justin McMillan forced them both into retirement.

They were then able to navigate their Porsche into the lead, and hold onto a comfortable lead while an exciting battle for second played out between Jamie Whincup and Christopher Mies.  

Whincup and Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim crossed the line in second place, with Mies and Geoff Emery taking the final spot on the podium.  

Richie Stanaway was closing in fast but ultimately ran out of time as he and Prince Jefri Ibrahim finished in fourth, while Jayden Ojeda and Ross Poulkas rounded out the top five.  

Despite the disappointing opening race, Talbot and Hofer fought back to claim the second 60-minute race of the weekend.  

Hofer had the hot start over Jordan Love in the Makita Mercedes-AMG GT3 and was able to hold onto the lead through to the driver change, where Talbot did what he does best to finish off a weekend of ups and downs for the Audi Sport Customer Racing Australia team.  

His teammate, Emery finished the race in second place to make it a one-two for the team, while Prince Jefri showed true form to claim the final spot on the podium alongside Stanaway.

The Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS will now venture to Phillip Island for the third round of the 2023 calendar on 12-14 May.

Dunlop Series

Ryan Wood enjoyed a clean sweep of Dunlop Series victories during the category’s round at Carco.com.au Raceway as part of the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint.  

After making the pass on pole-sitter and series points leader Zac Best, nobody was able to come near the 19-year-old during the opening race as he eventually took out the win by more than four seconds.

Brad Vaughan was then also able to make a move on the struggling Best to find himself in second place, while Lochie Dalton missed out on jumping Best and had to settle for fourth. 

The second race saw similar circumstances for the Walkinshaw Andretti United driver as a result of the pole-sitter Vaughan being sent into the wall due to contact from Zach Bates.  

After originally passing leader Kai Allen in the early stages of the race, the safety car intervention all but sealed the victory for Wood and ensured he left Perth with both winners’ trophies.  

Petronis Motorsport’s Aaron Love found himself in second place at race end, followed by series title contender Cooper Murray in his Eggleston Motorsport Ford Mustang GT.  

Despite a seventh-place finish in the second race, Best remains at the top of the standings in his Anderson Motorsport challenger 18-points ahead of Murray.  

There is then a 30-point gap between the Eggleston Motorsport driver and Jay Hansen, who is currently holding off Matt Chahda by six points.  

As an 11th place overall finisher and the winner of the Super3 category, Cameron McLeod was one of the more impressive drivers on the grid in the opening race. He was able to hold off Jobe Stewart in a close contest that went right down to the wire, as the duo sustained continuous pressure from Nash Morris and Jordyn Sinni behind.

Mcleod was able to make it two from two in the Super3 across the weekend after finishing ahead of Stewart and Jett Johnson. 

The next round of the Dunlop Series will take place at the NTI Newcastle 500 on 7-9 July.