In the Scott Taylor Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3, Craig Baird has gone fastest in the first CAMS Australian GT Championship qualifying session at Albert Park.
Setting the grid for Race 1 late this afternoon, Baird went under the lap record with a 1 minute 55.1854 second flyer to outpoint ex-Formula 1 racer Giancarlo Fisichella by a mere 0.034 seconds.
It was the fifth closest pole position margin in Australian GT history.
Some of the best times were set in the last three minutes after a red flag situation when Luke Seidler ran wide in his Porsche 991 GT3 Cup Car at Turn 1.
Nick Karnaros (Porsche 997 Cup) had a similar incident a couple of corners up the road but managed to extract himself and continue.
Third fastest behind the Fisichella’s Maranello Motorsport Ferrari 488 was Tony D’Alberto in the WM Waste Management Mercedes ahead of three-time Le Mans winner Marcel Fassler (Valvoline Audi R8 LMS).
Row three for race one will be shared by John Martin (Walkinshaw Racing Porsche 911 GT3-R) and Dan Gaunt (Audi R8 LMS), ahead of Dean Canto (Lamborghini Huracan GT3) and Steve Richards (BMW M6 GT3). Fraser Ross (McLaren 650S GT3) and Dom Storey (Mercedes-AMG GT3) complete the top ten.
Fastest of the GT Trophy cars was driven by Nick Kelly who was 12th overall his Audi R8 LMS Ultra with nearest class rival John Morriss (Porsche GT3-R) three spots further back and Rio Nugara (Audi R8 LMS Ultra) in 16th.
In the GT4 class, Jeremy Gray paved the way in his Aston Martin, less than a second ahead of Justin McMillian (KTM X-Bow), the BMW M4 driven by Xavier West, and Mark Griffith in the Ginetta.
Race 1 is set to commence at 18:00 this evening after Qualifying 2 which will set the grid for tomorrow’s second race at 15:20.
Qualifying 1 Results
1 Craig Baird (Mercedes-AMG GT3) CH 1:55.1854
2 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ferrari 488 GT3) CH 1:55.2208
3 Tony D’Alberto (Mercedes-AMG GT3) CH 1:55.6280
4 Marcel Fassler (Audi R8 LMS) CH 1:55.6410
5 John Martin (Porsche 911 GT3-R) CH 1:55.7024
6 Daniel Gaunt (Audi R8 LMS) CH 1:55.7676
7 Dean Canto (Lamborghini Huracan) CH 1:55.9549
8 Steve Richards (BMW M6 GT3) CH 1:56.5176
9 Fraser Ross (McLaren 650S GT3) CH 1:57.2838
10 Dominic Storey (Mercedes-AMG GT3) CH 1:58.0182
11 Ash Samadi (Audi R8 LMS) CH 1:59.0619
12 Nick Kelly (Audi R8 LMS Ultra) TR 1:59.2648
13 Jaie Robson (Mercedes-AMG GT3) CH 1:59.4079
14 Tony Quinn (McLaren 650S GT3) CH 1:59.8919
15 John Morriss (Porsche GT3-R) TR 2:00.1185
16 Rio Nugara (Audi R8 LMS Ultra) TR 2:01.9174
17 Matthew Stoupas (Audi R8 LMS Ultra) TR 2:02.3689
18 Daniel Stutterd (Porsche 991 GT3 Cup) TR 2:03.6811
19 Michael Loccisano (Porsche 991 GT3 Cup) TR 2:05.5122
20 Shane Barwood (Porsche 991 GT3 Cup) TR 2:05.6208
21 Wayne Mack (Ferrari 458 GT3) TR 2:06.1812
22 Dale Paterson (Chevrolet Camaro GT3) TR 2:08.3516
23 Luke Seidler (Porsche 991 GT3 Cup) TR 2:08.9186
24 Sam Fillmore (Porsche 991 GT3 Cup) TR 2:10.0012
25 Jeremy Gray (Aston Martin Vantage) GT4 2:10.8285
26 Justin McMillan (KTM X-Bow) GT4 2:11.5890
27 Joseph Ensabella (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) TR 2:13.7819
28 Jan Jinadasa Lamborghini LP560GT3) TR 2:13.9914
29 Xavier West (BMW M4 GT4) GT4 2:14.5587
30 Nick Karnaros (Porsche 997 Cup) TR 2:15.3529
31 Mark Griffith (Ginetta GT4) GT4 2:17.8408
