Arise Racing GT 1-2 completes opening day proceedings at The Bend

Arise Racing GT 1-2 completes opening day proceedings at The Bend

Wet conditions led to limited running for many competitors as Arise Racing GT’s pair of Ferrari 296 GT3s ended the second practice session for Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS at The Bend at the top.

Repeating their result from the opening practice session earlier, Elliott Schutte and Jaxon Evans set the fastest time on a 1m 24.985s to edge teammates Liam Talbot and Chaz Mostert by 0.267s.

New Zealander Brendon Leitch put the Dayle ITM Team MPC Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 in third just 0.441s off the top as co-driver Tim Miles didn’t run.

Peter Hackett and Declan Fraser finished the session fourth in the Triple Eight Race Engineering Mercedes-AMG GT3 ahead of the OnlyFans Team MPC Audi shared by Paul Stokell and Renee Gracie in progressively tough conditions.

After scoring a podium in the second race at Phillip Island, Paul Lucchitti and Jayden Ojeda continued this form to be sixth in the Realta/Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3, which led the new Team MPC entry for New Zealander Steve Brooks sharing alongside the experienced Nick McBride.

Leading Am Class were brothers James and Theo Koundouris combining in the Supabarn Supermarkets Mercedes-AMG GT3 run by Tigani Motorsport, with Brad Schumacher following for Shaw & Partners/Kelso Electrical/Team MPC.

Rounding out the drivers to brave the conditions were Marcel Zalloua and Sergio Pires in the Valmont Racing Audi, the Aston Martin of Darren Currie and Valentino Astuti, while Mike Sheargold for RAM Motorsport gained crucial track time.

Qualifying continues the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS action at 8:00am ACST or 8:30am AEST tomorrow morning.