PREVIEW: Stacked Fanatec GT Australia field set for Queensland Raceway

The Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS title fight arrives at Queensland Raceway for Round 3, delicately poised as another manufacturer joins the fray.

Arise Racing GT enters Queensland Raceway at the top of the standings courtesy of reigning series winner Liam Talbot and recent Supercars race victor Chaz Mostert holding a seven-point advantage.

Key competition comes from Audi Sport Customer Racing Australia through Shaw & Partners/Kelso Electrical Team MPC’s Brad Schumacher and current Repco Supercars Championship leader Will Brown, who enter the round in winning form after taking out Race 2 at The Bend. 

The duo sit second in the standings ahead of Tim Miles and Brendon Leitch in the Dayle ITM/Team MPC Audi R8, with the New Zealand pairing just 16 points off the title lead.

Queensland Raceway marks the exciting maiden addition of an Aston Martin Vantage GT3, confirming Volante Rosso Motorsport’s new alignment to the British marque. Rising star Alex Gardner and the internationally experienced Ben Porter will share driving duties for the team and could offer a serious challenge for top honours.

Following a recent successful testing at the venue, Elliott Schutte will be hoping to use those crucial miles to climb the standings, as he sits fourth alongside Jaxon Evans in the second Arise Racing GT Ferrari.

Aiming to build on their maiden victory at The Bend, Peter Hackett and Declan Fraser are not to be discounted on Triple Eight race Engineering’s home turf.

Also upholding the Mercedes-AMG honours will be Tigani Motorsport as Paul Lucchitti and Jayden Ojeda represent the squad’s Pro-Am chances, while Grove Racing return after a limited Round 1 at Phillip Island with father-son pairing Stephen and Brenton Grove.

Rounding out a highly competitive Pro-Am field is Mark Rosser and Alex Peroni in the Team BRM-prepared ACM Finance Audi and the similar entry for Paul Stokell and Renee Gracie.

It will be an equally tough battle in the Am class, which is headlined by the return of Harrolds Racing through long-time friends Chris Batzios and Ross Poulakis – the duo to partner for the first time in a Mercedes-AMG GT3.

RAM Motorsport’s Mike Sheargold and Garth Walden currently lead the way from brothers James and Theo Koundouris in their Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG.

Completing the Am Class field will be Black Wolf Motorsport’s Mercedes-AMG of Shane Woodman and Ben Schoots, plus Audi Sport Customer Racing Australia duo Ash Samadi and Marc Cini in their respective solo entries.

GT Trophy makes it three classes of close competition with the addition of Scott Taylor and Paul Morris in the Porsche 997 GT3 R, going up against the KMB Motorsport Aston Martin driven by Darren Currie and Valentino Astuti.

Two one hour races will make up the round, with fans able to tune into Saturday and Sunday’s action live and free via the Seven Network broadcast. 

International viewers can watch live and free on the GT World YouTube page.

Round 3 of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS takes place at Queensland Raceway as part of the Shannons SpeedSeries on August 2-4.

Entry list, Round 3 Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS, Queensland Raceway