Last year’s CAMS Australian Endurance Championship winners Peter Hackett and Dominic Storey are set to reunite for the opening round of the 2018 CAMS Australian GT Championship.
The pair emerged victorious after a thrilling championship battle in 2017, claiming the title in the dying laps of the final race of the year.
It saw both drivers claim their first Australian GT title, a particularly emotional victory for Hackett who’d chased championship glory for more than a decade.
Looking to build on the success the pair enjoyed aboard the Eggleston Motorsport operated Mercedes-AMG GT3 last season, Hackett is shaping up to compete in the entire 2018 CAMS Australian GT Championship, though for the moment is focused on next weekend’s opening round in Albert Park.
“I’m really excited,” said Hackett.
“The format suits the two of us combined, we know Dom’s very quick in the car and we know there are a lot of strong drivers at the Grand Prix.
“Dom will definitely be pushing for a top three finish in the Pro race, and at the end of last year in particular I was quite strong in the Am class I think.
“At the Grand Prix it’s double duties for me, I’m doing the Speed Comparison as well with the Formula 1 car and the road car, that’s a little bit of fun – there’s no competitive advantage, it’s literally just a bit of fun.
“For me it’s a home race, I live in Albert Park, and Mercedes-Benz and AMG’s home is in Melbourne as well, so for us there’s an extraordinary fan base and number of supporters that will be at the Grand Prix and we’d really like to put on a great show for everybody supporting Lewis Hamilton and everyone that supports AMG.”
Following his success last year, Storey has moved into the Super2 Series for 2018, but is keen to remain active in Australian GT, with his Australian Grand Prix outing hopefully the first of three.
“The aim is to try and do the other two sprint rounds with Pete as well,” Storey said.
“I want to keep my relationship with Mercedes, even though I’m doing Super2.
“The idea is we’ll do the Grand Prix together at least, so it’s all worked out quite nicely.
“Obviously we won the championship together last year which is great, but I’m really happy to do at least a couple of rounds with Pete this year.”
A capacity Australian GT field is set to line up for the opening round of the season at Albert Park next weekend as the Australian GT Championship supports the Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix.
Details of Hackett’s endurance co-driver will be announced at a later date.
