Jake Camilleri has set the early pace as the CAMS Australian GT Trophy Series presented by Pirelli took to Queensland Raceway for Round 4 of the series.
On a dusty circuit Camillieri’s best of 1:13.2574 edged out the sister MARC Cars Australia entry belonging to Morgan Haber and Rob Thomson on the Queensland outfit’s home turf.
“There’s more in it,” Camilleri said after the session. “You could drive into the corners a lot harder as the track gripped up, so it’s a good start but there’s more to come.”
Having put in a starring performance during Round 3 of the series at Sydney Motorsport Park, Jack Smith was again on the pace with the third fastest time, just half a tenth off the pace of the Haber/Thomson combination.
A week after wrestling a Holden Monaro around Queensland Raceway, Keith Kassulke took no time in adapting to his MARC Focus V8 to go fourth fastest.
The six-strong MARC Cars Australia fleet also saw the Jason Busk/Sam Gerrard and Michael Benton entries well represented, with each turning 14-laps in the opening 20-minute session.
Queensland racer Scott Hookey put his local knowledge to good use to set the fifth fastest time in the Exotic Track Days Ferrari 458 Challenge, splitting Kassulke and the Busk/Gerrard MARC entries.
Running second in the Trophy class points score, Rob Smith eased his way into a weekend that will prove crucial to his title ambitions.
The Southern Star Developments Audi R8 LMS driver topped the class despite the slippery surface, heading debutante Travers Beynon who is also behind the wheel of a Melbourne Performance Centre Audi R8 LMS.
Australian GT is back on track at 11:05 tomorrow morning ahead of a 30-minute qualifying session at 14:15 tomorrow afternoon.
The first of two 50-minute races gets underway at 10:35 on Sunday morning with Race 2 following at 14:00.
Both races will be streamed live via the Australian GT website – www.australiangt.com.au
Practice Results
| Pos | Team | Driver | Car | Time |
| 1 | MARC Cars Australia | Jake Camilleri | MARC Mazda V8 | 1:13.2574 |
| 2 | MARC Cars Australia | Morgan Haber/Rob Thomson | MARC Focus V8 | 1:13.5109 |
| 3 | MARC Cars Australia | Jack Smith | MARC Mazda V8 | 1:13.5644 |
| 4 | MARC Cars Australia | Keith Kassulke | MARC Focus V8 | 1:14.8555 |
| 5 | Exotic Track Days | Scott Hookey | Ferrari 458 Challenge | 1:16.0435 |
| 6 | MARC Cars Australia | Jason Busk/Sam Gerrard | MARC Focus V8 | 1:16.3394 |
| 7 | Southern Star Developments | Rob Smith | Audi R8 LMS | 1:16.5204 |
| 8 | Travers Beynon | Travers Beynon | Audi R8 LMS | 1:16.7047 |
| 9 | MARC Cars Australia | Michael Benton | MARC Focus V8 | 1:17.8578 |
| 10 | JJA Consulting Group | Jan Jinadasa | Lamborghini Gallardo | 1:24.9659 |
