Having to claw back a 4s deficit, Kelvin van der Linde almost stole victory from Yasser Shahin and fellow Audi Sport factory driver Christopher Mies in an action-packed opening Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS race in Adelaide.
In an Audi 1-2, Mies crossed the line 0.333s ahead of van der Linde in a battle where the momentum shifted on multiple occasions. Van der Linde was unable to complete a pass at Turn 9, but the closeness resulted in contact with Mies as the gap was abruptly closed.
The victory enhanced Shahin’s title position to Liam Talbot after the third contender Prince Jefri Ibrahim crashed out of qualifying forcing an early end to the weekend.
Talbot and Fraser Ross finished third in the Shannons Insurance Audi ahead of another impressive performance from Harrolds Volante Rosso Racing’s Ross Poulakis to take Am Class honours and be lead Mercedes-AMG.
Fifth was runner up in Pro-Am, the KFC combination of Gary Higgon and Paul Stokell ahead of GT Trophy winner Valmont Racing as Brad Schumacher guided the squad’s Audi R8 LMS GT3 Ultra after a strong opening stint by Sergio Pires.
The sole-GTC runner in Tom Sargent was seventh in his CHE Racing Team Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup Car to lead Marc Cini’s Hallmarc Audi, the similar R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of Ash Samadi and second in GT Trophy Class Michael Kokkinos in the Launch Racing Ultra.
Failures to finish included the two Bentleys as Matt Belford’s first generation model encountered technical problems, while the Mike Bailey/Brett Hobson latter example hit the tyre wall and damaged the front left corner.
The Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim Mercedes-AMG GT3 also retired with mechanical problems, while Matt Stoupas in the second KFC Audi also failed to reach the chequered flag.
Sam Brabham and Chris Batzios took victory in GT4 in the Harrolds Volante Rosso Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4.
The next race for the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS is on tomorrow at 9:35am tomorrow.