Australian GT ready for Townsville street fight

A packed grid will take to the Reid Park circuit in Townsville as part of Round 5 of the CAMS Australian GT Championship this weekend (July 7-9).

Making a welcome return will be reigning champion Christopher Mies, who will steer the #1 JAMEC PEM Racing Audi R8 LMS alongside Tony Bates.

It will be the first time the duo has paired up but is far from the only change for the four ringed brand this weekend.

Joining the squad for the first time is Ash Samadi in his brand-new Audi R8 LMS, and Marc Cini will make his 2016 Australian GT debut.

Samadi and Cini form part of a mighty six-car team for the Melbourne Performance Centre which also features Steve McLaughlan, a race winner at Barbagallo, the James Koundouris/Marcus Marshall pair and Greg Taylor, fresh from a double victory at the CAMS Australian GT Trophy Series presented by Pirelli at Sydney Motorsport Park last weekend.

It’s a fearsome lineup for Championship leader Nathan Morcom to contend with, the DPO McLaren 650S GT3 driver having taken the championship lead following victory in Round 4 at Phillip Island.

Grant Denyer and Jonathon Webb will combine in the #59 McLaren Melbourne entry while Nathan Antunes, who emerged victorious in Race 2 at Townsville last year, will share the Beechwood/SLR/Buildmap McLaren 650S GT3 with Elliot Barbour.

Having shown impressive pace in their first two outings, Walkinshaw GT3 returns with John Martin and new co-driver Neale Muston, who will step into the Porsche 911 GT3-R for the first time.

Porsche will also be represented by Andrew Macpherson in the AMAC Motorsport 997 GT3-R, a car he’ll share once more with Brad Shiels.

There’s plenty of German influence on the grid as BMW and Mercedes also feature prominently.

The three-pointed star will field two AMG GT3s for Mark Griffith and Scott Taylor/Craig Baird while BMW will boast Steve Richards and Max Twigg in the M6 GT3 and the ever impressive Ricky Capo in the popular Modena Engineering Z4 GT3.

Four entries from the raging bull will see former championship leaders Justin McMillan and Glen Wood once again behind the wheel of the Interlloy M Motorsport Lamborghini R-EX.

Roger Lago will pilot his Lamborghini R-EX around the streets of Reid Park, a circuit which shares much in common with the Adelaide Parklands where the JBS Australia driver proved a contender throughout the opening weekend of the championship in March.

Dean Canto and Andrew Taplin partner up once again in the Taplin Real Estate Entry while father and son combination Peter and Alex Rullo share the Performance West Motorsport Lamborghini Gallardo.

Audi’s ranks are bolstered by the Fastway Couriers entry of Simon Ellingham and Tim Miles while there is a single Aston Martin Vantage GT3 from Tony Quinn in the Darrell Lea entry.

The Darrell Lea squad will also be busy with Klark Quinn’s McLaren 650S GT3, the former champ currently second in the points standings heading into the penultimate round of the season.

Already a race winner in 2016, Tony Walls will be looking to repeat that success this weekend as he once again takes control of the Object Racing McLaren 650S GT3 for both 60-minute encounters across the weekend.

The CAMS Australian GT Championship kicks off the on-track action on Friday (July 7) morning with opening practice at 9:10am with the first of two qualifying sessions scheduled for 11:30am.

Second qualifying opens proceedings on Saturday morning at 9:25am ahead of Race 1 at 11:40. Race 2 gets under way at 11:25am on Sunday.

All sessions will be shown live on Fox Sports channel 506 from Saturday morning.

Entry List

No Team Drivers Car
1 JAMEC PEM Racing Christopher Mies/Tony Bates Audi R8 LMS
2 JAMEC PEM Racing Steve McLaughlan Audi R8 LMS
3 Bondi Wholefoods Ash Samadi Audi R8 LMS
4 Supabarn Supermarkets James Koundouris/Marcus Marshall Audi R8 LMS
5 GT Motorsport Greg Taylor Audi R8 LMS
7 Darrell Lea Tony Quinn Aston Martin Vantage GT3
9 Hallmarc Developments Marc Cini Audi R8 LMS
11 Objective Racing Tony Walls McLaren 650S GT3
14 Taplin Real Estate Andrew Taplin/Dean Canto Lamborghini R-EX
19 Hogs Breath Café/Griffith Corporation Mark Griffith Mercedes AMG SLS GT3
23 JBS Australia Roger Lago Lamborghini R-EX
33 Fastway Couriers Simon Ellingham/Tim Miles Audi R8 LMS Ultra
37 Darrell Lea Klark Quinn McLaren 650S GT3
48 Interlloy M Motorsport Justin McMillan/Glen Wood Lamborghini R-EX
51 AMAC Motorsport Andrew Macpherson/Brad Shiels Porsche 997 GT3-R
59 McLaren Melbourne Grant Denyer/Jonathon Webb McLaren 650S GT3
60 DPO Nathan Morcom McLaren 650S GT3
61 Beechwood/SLR/Buildcorp Nathan Antunes/Elliot Barbour McLaren 650S GT3
62 Performance West Motorsport Alex Rullo/Peter Rullo Lamborghini Gallardo
92 Modena Engineering Ricky Capo BMW Z4 GT3
100 BMW Team SRM Steve Richards/Max Twigg BMW M6 GT3
222 Scott Taylor Motorsport Scott Taylor/Craig Baird Mercedes AMG GT3
911 Walkinshaw GT3 John Martin/Neale Muston Porsche 911 GT3-R