Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Global

Phillip Island GT: Evans/Miles win hectic enduro opener

Jaxon Evans and Tim Miles won the first round of the Australian Endurance Championship after an eventful weather-affected race at Phillip Island.

#75 Audi R8 LMS: Tim Miles, Jaxon Evans

#75 Audi R8 LMS: Tim Miles, Jaxon Evans

GrandPrix Media

#59 McLaren 650S GT3: Fraser Ross, Warren Luff
Peter Hackett, Dominic Storey, Mercedes Benz AMG GT3
#8 Mercedes AMG GT3: Max Twigg, Tony D'Alberto
#63 Mercedes AMG GT3: Dominic Storey, Peter Hackett
#911 Porsche 911 GT3-R: Liam Talbot, John Martin
#59 McLaren 650S GT3: Fraser Ross, Warren Luff
#8 Mercedes AMG GT3: Max Twigg, Tony D'Alberto
#100 BMW Team SRM BMW M6 GT3: Steve Richards, James Bergmuller
#124 Audi R8 LMS: Matt Stoupas, Daniel Gaunt
#74 Audi R8 LMS: Geoff Emery, Garth Tander
Unloading cars
#100 BMW Team SRM BMW M6 GT3: Steve Richards, James Bergmuller
Garth Tander, Geoff Emery, Audi R8 LMS

The #75 Audi profited from some strong strategic work and a relatively short compulsory pitstop penalty time to take out the first long-distance Australian GT Championship race of the season, ahead of polesitters Dominic Storey and Peter Hackett in the #63 Eggleston Mercedes.

Having been in contention for the first two thirds of the race, a mix-up during the compulsory stops cost Walkinshaw Porsche drivers Liam Talbot and John Martin dearly.

Story of the race

Talbot and Hackett were clearly the class of the field in the first stint, the Porsche driver getting the jump on Hackett before the pair streaked into the distance.

Running nose-to-tail, they pulled 16s over the rest of the field in just seven laps, and had a 20-second advantage by the 20-lap mark.

Having shadowed Talbot since the first lap, Hackett finally made his move on Lap 23. He breezed back into the lead at Honda, pulling a couple of seconds almost immediately.

Not that it mattered, a downpour on Lap 24 turning the race on its head. With the Safety Car called, almost the entire field dived into the pits to make an out-of-the-window switch to wets. The lane was frantic, a number of cars either blocked in or out of their pit bays, the two leaders included.

As it all shook out Miles ended up out front of those that had stopped, ahead of Mathew Stoupas, Talbot, and Hackett – who actually dropped a lap.

When the race restarted Talbot found himself going backwards, literally, with a spin on the first green lap. But three laps later he was back in the lead, passing Stoupas and Miles.

At that point, with 80 laps to go, Talbot was a whopping 1m14s clear of Hackett back in fifth and looking very much in the box seat.

Reprieve for Hackett

On Lap 48 the Safety Car changed to complexion of the race once again. This time it was thanks to Stoupas beaching his Audi at Lukey Heights, and it played right into Hackett’s hands. He could close to within 7s of leader Talbot (and Miles in second), while Ross made some huge gains in fourth to get within 11s.

The race restarted on Lap 51, and a lap later the two primary contenders dived into the lane to make their first compulsory stops. It was a well-timed decision, too, the Safety Car coming out half a lap later to give both cars a free kick. And with 62 laps left, the ‘pro’ drivers John Martin and Dom Storey were able to jump in.

The second round of CPS stops started almost before the first had ended. On Lap 56 Martin dived back into the lane in the #911 Porsche for a second time. But what looked like smart work in the pits quickly turned sour for the Walkinshaw crew. It emerged that a faulty countdown screen on the front of the car had led to one of the compulsory stops not being long enough, and that meant another trip down the lane.

On Lap 65 Martin served a fourth stop, dropping back to seventh and effectively out of contention.

Evans becomes a contender

Storey made his second stop right at the end of the window, but despite the Talbot/Martin entry being now out of the game he didn’t come out in front. Instead he was effectively second (although third on the road), behind Evans in the #75 Audi.

Having taken over from Miles during the pair of compulsory stops, Evans had profited hugely from having just a 79s penalty time (compared to 112s for the #63 Merc) and was now in a commanding position.

Still, it wasn’t 100 per cent straightforward for the Carrera Cup regular. When Brad Sheils beached his Lamborghini there was a fourth Safety Car, which let Storey close the gap and set up a 30-lap sprint to the finish.

But Evans was up to the task, slowly building on the gap back to Storey to set up a 10s victory, the race ultimately ended 10 laps early after going time-certain.

Warren Luff and Fraser Ross finished third in the McLaren thanks largely to some great hustle from Ross in the first stint, while Garth Tander and Geoff Emery capped off a solid day out for Audi with fourth in the #74 Valvoline car.

Jake Camilleri and Mark Griffith finished fifth in the #19 Mercedes, while the Martin/Talbot came home in sixth.

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Phillip Island GT: Eggleston Mercedes takes pole
Next article Challenge Bathurst event to fight GT ban

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Global