GRANT Denyer gave himself the perfect birthday present today at Sandown as he and Tony D’Alberto claimed victory in Race 1 of Round 5 of the Australian GT Championship Presented by Pirelli at Sandown.
The Maranello Motorsport duo led home a Ferrari 1-2, Denyer crossing the line 7.7222-seconds clear of the similar Trass Family Motorsport 458 GT3 of Kiwis Jono Lester and Graeme Smyth.
The two scarlet racers started on the front row of the grid with a six-second pit stop differential between the two when they made their compulsory stops due to the grading of the drivers in each car.
Denyer was able to chase down the Porsche of James Koundouris after he took over the wheel from D’Alberto and cleared away to win while Lester sliced his way through from the tail of the top 10 to finish second.
Erebus Motorsport Mercedes pilot Morgan Haber enjoyed a solid day too, the Mackay driver finishing third at the end of the hour-long race after Lester was able to get by in the very last few minutes of the race.
Haber set the fastest lap of the race, punching out a 1m09.1228s lap on lap 37.
The race ran completely under green flag conditions with no Safety Car periods in the eventual 45 laps of racing that were completed.
JAMEC PEM Audi pilot Christopher Mies brought home the #74 Audi R8 LMS Ultra that he shared with Ryan Miller in fourth place, an important result given his main title rival Nathan Antunes finished eighth.
Antunes was looking solid before he ran off the road at Dandenong Road Corner and ran through the sand trap just prior to pitting to make his compulsory pit stop.
He was able to re-join but has now lost the lead of the Australian GT Championship to the German.
James Koundouris finished a superb fifth in his Supabarn Supermarkets Porsches, clear of the McLaren of Klark Quinn.
Bradley Shiels and Andrew MacPherson’s Porsche was seventh ahead of Antunes, Tony Quinn (STIX McLaren 650S) and Steve McLaughlan’s Audi.
Tony DeFelice had been on target for a top five finish in his Ferrari 458 GT3, however a late-race spin at turn four sent him back down the order and he finished 11th, the last car on the lead lap.
A flat tyre before the pit stop window opened blunted the charge of the M Motorsport Lamborghini of Glen Wood/Elliot Barbour, the two young guns still finishing 15th, though one lap down.
It was a good day all round for the Koundouris family with James’ brother Theo claiming victory in the Trophy Class in his Porsche GT3-S.
Simon Ellingham/Jaxon Evans finished second in the Fastway Couriers Porsche with Mark Griffith’s Audi third.
The Trophy Class points leading Audi of Wall Racing’s Greg Taylor and Barton Mawer led the class early in the race before Taylor had a few off-track excursions that left them fourth in class at race’s end.
Porsche pilot Richard Gartner claimed victory in the Challenge class in his GT3 Cup Car, one lap clear of the similar car of Michael O’Donnell, which was delayed by a spin at turn four that ripped the front splitter off his Porsche.
The race began around 5.00pm local time with perfect conditions for racing enjoyed by all and many fans staying around to watch the GT action with the Championship the last race of the day at Sandown.
The Australian GT Championship cars will be back on track at Sandown tomorrow to kick off a massive race day at the V8 Supercars Sandown 500.
They will compete in another one-hour race as the first category on track for the day starting at 9.05am with a time certain 60-minute finish.
The race will be the last time the championship competes on Australian soil this year given the last round in November will be held in New Zealand at Highlands Motorsport Park.