The eight and a quarter hour wait was worth it for Jaie Robson who won Race 2 of the first round of the 2018 CAMS Australian GT Championship at Albert Park on Friday.
In a Mercedes-AMG GT3, Robson started third on the grid and was involved in a near-race long dice with pole-sitter Fraser Ross (McLaren 650S) before seizing the lead and going onto win by over five seconds.
Third across the line was Peter Hackett (Mercedes) who forged his way through from starting fifth, passing the 2017 Australian GT Champion Geoff Emery (Audi R8 LMS) and front row starter Max Twigg (Mercedes).
The latter two battled throughout with Twigg coming out on top towards the end.
The race was originally scheduled for at 10:45 start but was delayed after an incident in the previous event forced it to be rescheduled to 19:00.
It made for an incredible spectacle as the 31-car field raced with headlights blazing, Robson taking the flag as the sun finally dipped below the horizon.
Filling out the rest of the top ten were Liam Talbot (Porsche 911 GT3-R) who started tenth, Tony Bates (Audi), Tony Quinn (McLaren), Scott Taylor (Mercedes) and Ash Samadi (Audi).
Trophy Class cars filled the next three places with Nick Kelly (Audi R8 LMS Ultra) ahead of John Morriss (Porsche 911 GT3-R) and Matt Stoupas (Audi), Kelly taking his second Class victory of the weekend.
GT4 honours went right down to the wire, with Jeremy Gray (Aston Martin) coming from the rear of the grid to grab a last-gasp victory over Xavier West (BMW M4) at the last corner on the final lap.
DRIVER QUOTES
Jaie Robson (Championship): “I got a great start and went to the lead at the first corner, then out-braked myself. Later I had a go at Fraser (Ross) at Turn 3, got alongside and he ran me wide – that’s racing.
“I knew where my car was stronger, at Turn 13 and I knew I had to get it (the pass) done as the lapped cars could stopped any further attempts.
“Really have to thank Aussie Driver Search, Liquid Clothing . . . and my Dad. This is a great category and I am here to stay.”
Nick Kelly (Trophy): “We had the pace of some of the Championship cars and were racing with them just outside the top ten, but our focus was on Trophy class and had to think of that first, and there we had around eight seconds advantage.”
Jeremy Gray (GT4): “I actually got held up at the start where we started at the rear of the grid. (Then I) had to really play it smart with the traffic and then when the leaders came through.
“It was really messy at the last corner of the final lap where I seized the opportunity to slip past the Xavier West BMW for the GT4 class win.”
RACE TWO RESULTS (11 laps)
1 Jaie Robson (Mercedes-AMG GT3) 19:32.26
2 Fraser Ross (McLaren 650S GT3) +5.6788
3 Peter Hackett (Mercedes-AMG GT3) +7.4993
4 Max Twigg (Mercedes-AMG GT3) +19.3670
5 Geoff Emery (Audi R8 LMS GT3) +19.7505
6 Liam Talbot (Porsche 911 GT3-R) +24.1704
7 Tony Bates (Audi R8 LMS GT3) +25.0931
8 Tony Quinn (McLaren 650S GT3) +39.6976
9 Scott Taylor (Mercedes-AMG GT3) +40.2721
10 Ash Samadi (Audi R8 LMS GT3) +42.5765
11 Nick Kelly (Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT3) +46.1895
12 John Morriss (Porsche 911 GT3-R GT3) +53.8759
13 Matt Stoupas (Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT3) +1:02.6060
14 Steve Richards (BMW M6 GT3) +1:04.3674
15 Rob Nugara (Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT3) +1:04.5464
16 Peter Edwards (Ferrari 488 GT3) +1:04.6523
17 Wayne Mack (Ferrari 458 GT3) +1:14.9950
18 Daniel Stutterd (Porsche 991 GT3 Cup) +1:26.3367
19 Dale Paterson (Chevrolet Camaro GT3) 10 laps
20 Jan Jinadasa (Lamborghini Gallardo GT3) 10 laps
21 Michael Loccisano (Porsche 991 Cup Car) 10 laps
22 Nick Karnaros (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) 10 laps
23 Sam Fillmore (Porsche 991 GT3 Cup) 10 laps
24 Shane Barwood (Porsche 991 GT3 Cup) 10 laps
25 Joseph Ensabella (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) 10 laps
26 Chris Seidler (Porsche 991 GT3 Cup) 10 laps
27 Jeremy Gray (Aston Martin Vantage GT4) 10 laps
28 Xavier West (BMW M4 GT4) 10 laps
29 Jim Manolios (Lamborghini Huracan GT3) 10 laps
30 Mark Griffith (Ginetta G55 GT4) 10 laps
31 Justin McMillian (KTM X-Bow GT4) 10 laps
