Action went right down to the wire in race two of the Australian GT Championship – protected by Sargent Security with John Bowe squeezing his Il Bello Rosso Ferrari past Peter Hackett’s Erebus Racing Mercedes Benz on the penultimate lap to take Ferrari’s first Australian GT race win for 2012.
Bowe’s co-driver, Peter Edwards, had started in 6th place and raced strongly through to the compulsory pit stop where Bowe took over, rejoining to pick off his rivals one by one in a polished display of driving
“I really enjoyed competing this weekend” commented ‘JB’ afterwards. “These GT guys race hard and fair and it’s a joy to compete against them. I love the cars and enjoy working with Peter (Edwards) and the team is great. In fact I think I’m getting my mojo back”
“It’s a credit to the Maranello Motorsport team” added Edwards. “I had a big accident testing here a few weeks ago and the boys have worked night and day since then to get the car rebuilt. To be able to come back and take a win today is a fine reward for all of their efforts”.
John Briggs was the first retirement in his Sydney City Prestige Mosler MT900 GT3 with a broken rear suspension arm closely followed by the first safety car period to remove the similar Mothers Energy Drinks Mosler of Ash Samadi. Greg Crick struck fuel issues during his pit stop forcing another DNF for the Dodge Viper Competition Coupe but the major drama of the race unfolded on lap 27 when Roger Lago’s JBS Lamborghini Gallardo struck the wall heavily on lap 27 causing significant damage and necessitating a safety car intervention whilst the scene was cleared.
When racing resumed racing was frantic right throughout the field with Hackett leading from Klark Quinn’s Sargent Security Porsche 911 GT3 R and the hard charging Bowe with Tony Quinn’s VIP Petfoods Mosler MT900 GT3 also in the mix.
Hackett’s two second place results in the Erebus Racing Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3 were sufficient to take the overall round win for the weekend and extend his championship lead over Klark Quinn to six points.
Trophy class honours were taken by the Equity-One Mortgage Fund Lamborghini duo of Dean Koutsoumidis and Andrew McInnes. Jan Jinadasa took another victory in the Challenge class in his JJA Consulting Group Porsche 997 GT3 Cup and the Graham Lusty / Darrell Dixon Nissan Skyline GTR triumphed in the Sport class.
Driver’s Name AGT Class Points after Round 4
Peter Hackett Championship 101
Klark Quinn Championship 95
Peter Edwards / John Bowe Championship 86
