James Koundouris and Marcus Marshall have bounced back from an opening round crash in Adelaide to lead the CAMS Australian GT Championship after Round 2 in Albert Park.
The Supabarn Supermarkets Audi had been heavily damaged in an incident during the final race at the Clipsal 500, which prompted a race against time for the Melbourne Performance Centre to get the car ready for Round 2.
A host of parts were shipped out from Germany with the team only completing repairs the day before track action was set to begin in Albert Park.
Their efforts were rewarded with a strong showing, culminating in victory in the final race of the weekend for Koundouris, who moved into the championship lead with co-driver Marshall.
It was a show of strength for the Melbourne Performance Centre as reigning champion Christopher Mies and co-driver Geoff Emery took out the round and Steve McLaughlan claimed top spot in the Gold Driver Cup for the weekend.
A mixed weekend for Erebus saw the squad claim the first ever win for the Mercedes-AMG GT3 anywhere in the world when Craig Baird claimed Race 1 on Thursday.
Baird was then caught up in an incident early in Race 3 which left the front of the Scott Taylor Motorsport entry carrying the marks of battle for the remainder of the weekend.
An impressive global debut for the Ferrari 488 GT3 saw the Vicious Rumour Racing entry driven by Benny Simonsen and Andrea Montermini showing blistering pace towards the front of the pack.
The Maranello Motorsport car also showed huge potential with Tony D’Alberto and Peter Edwards at the wheel, with plenty more to come from the newest Ferrari.
Though the weekend ended with a strong result for TEKNO Autosports, it was a journey of discovery throughout the four days for the Queensland-based team.
Jonathon Webb proved quick in qualifying before falling down the order in the opening race as all three McLaren 650S GT3s run by the squad struggled for pace.
They quickly bounced back however and by Friday had unlocked the pace of the McLaren, which allowed Nathan Morcom to claim victory in Race 2 and end the weekend in third place overall.
The BMW Team SRM squad showed their potential as the smooth Albert Park circuit suited the BMW M6 GT3.
It meant the team was able to gain important information for their data banks of the brand-new machine as they continue to understand their steed.
Fellow BMW driver Ricky Capo showed he’s one of the bravest on the brakes in the CAMS Australian GT Championship.
The BMW Z4 GT3 driver displayed supreme confidence under brakes which saw him claim two positions in one corner in Race 4 in another positive showing from the former open wheel racer.
A strong performance from Matt Solomon highlighted the calibre of the young drivers who’ve entered the Championship in 2016, with the Hong Kong born racer handing Eggleston its first ever win in the CAMS Australian GT Championship.
Solomon looked set to double that tally early in Sunday’s race after building an impressive lead, only for his advantage to evaporate when the safety car emerged late in the race.
Justin McMillan and Glen Wood, championship leaders after the opening round, fell to fifth in the standings after a tough weekend.
Wood found himself the victim of a crash in Race 3 which left the Interlloy M Motorsport Lamborghini R-EX on the back foot heading into the finale, though McMillan rallied to finish a solid eighth place and record vital championship points.
Consistency has been the key for Klark Quinn so far in 2016 as he finds himself second in the Championship standings after two rounds.
A solid weekend in Adelaide was backed up by another strong result in Melbourne, moving the former two-time series champ to within 19 points of leaders Koundouris and Marshall.
Roger Lago continues to lead the Gold Driver Cup, though Tony Walls has made inroads into the JBS Australia driver’s advantage at the top of the table.
Lago’s advantage is just 14 points heading into Barbagallo while Greg Taylor and Steve McLaughlan also made strides forward.
The CAMS Australian GT Championship now moves to Barbagallo on May 6 -8. It will be the first time Australian GT has visited the Western Australian circuit, with two 60 minute races set to make up Round 3 of the championship.
