Spoils shared at thrilling Winton

Jake Camilleri and Greg Taylor have shared the spoils at a thrilling second round of the CAMS Australian GT Trophy Series presented by Pirelli.

A commanding performance from Taylor in the opening race saw the Audi R8 Ultra driver dominate proceedings to take victory by 49 seconds over Nicholas Rowe in the MARC Cars Australia entry.

Rowe withstood intense pressure from team-mate Jake Camilleri in a nail-biting battle, the pair eventually crossing the line just nine tenths up on the MARC Mazda V8.

Camilleri went on to win the second race, passing Rick Mensa shortly after the duo had served their compulsory pit stops to take the lead.

A safety car just as the pit window opened bunched the field, dropping race leader Taylor down the order through his longer stationary time.

Mensa emerged as race leader once the safety car withdrew, though the CCC Polished Concrete entry soon found himself the subject of Camilleri’s attentions.

The pair were locked in combat for a number of laps before a decisive move at Turn 3 saw Camilleri take control of the race, an impressive drive from Series debutant Mensa ultimately netting third as Jack Smith found a way by on the final lap.

Taylor ended the race in fourth, shattering the lap record in pursuit of those ahead in a thrilling chase in the final third of the race.

His best of 1:21.611 broke the previous record set by Cameron McConville in 2012 by more than seven tenths of a second.

With pole position, victory in Race 1 and second in class in Race 2, Greg Taylor won the round in Trophy Class over Mensa with the consistent Rob Smith recording strong points in third.

Jake Camilleri claimed the MARC Class honours owing to his outright victory in Race 2, which followed his second in class in the opening race of the weekend.

Camilleri headed home Jack Smith, who put in a solid performance in the second race to record a 1-2 result for MARC Cars Australia squad with Rowe rounding out the class podium.

The KPH / OLOF Family Dental Spa entry of Ockert Fourie put in a consistent weekend’s work to win the Challenge Class, turning solid lap times without the assistance of ABS or Traction Control in his Porsche GT3 Cup Car.

The CAMS Australian GT Trophy Series presented by Pirelli now heads to Sydney Motorsport Park at the beginning of July for Round 3 of the Series.