News
Shane van Gisbergen headlines GT entry list for Round 2 at Mount Panorama
Supercars dominator Shane van Gisbergen has been given the all-clear to compete in Round 2 of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS at Mount Panorama, Bathurst, this weekend.
The 31-year-old New Zealander is currently in the form of his life, winning the opening five races of the Supercars Championship, the last three coming while battling a broken collarbone from a mountain bike mishap.
Van Gisbergen will team-up with Prince Jefri Ibrahim in Triple Eight’s mighty Mercedes Benz AMG GT3 amongst a field of 18 GT3 cars for the second round of the national championship where Ibrahim and stand-in professional driver Jamie Whincup steered the team’s Mercedes to second outright.
While the Van Gisbergen/Ibrahim entry will be one to watch out for, the 18 car field will be chasing Phillip Island dominators Garth Tander and Yasser Shahin who won both races in their The Bend Motorsport Park-backed Audi R8.
Tander and Shahin were the best of the competitive field at The Island, claiming both race wins and currently lead the Pro/Am class with a healthy 17 points championship lead over the Triple Eight Mercedes.
While the majority of the entrants in all classes have remained unchanged from Phillip Island, one new addition in the Pro/Am ranks is Carrera Cup regular David Wall who joins Adrian Deitz in the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo.
Heading the GT Trophy Series class is Brett Hobson in his Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 after an exceptional effort at Phillip Island. He finished third and first in class at the opening round, and will be aiming to stay ahead of his rivals.
One of those rivals looking for cleaner run will be local Bathurst driver Brad Schumacher. The Audi debutant took victory on the GT Trophy class in the opening race, only to come off the track in the closing stages of Race 2 at Phillip Island, costing him a class victory.
In the GT Am class, the form guide is an open book, with Arthur Abrahams (Audi) and Tony Quinn (Aston Martin) locked on equal points.
The Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS will feature two one hour races this weekend, one each on Saturday and Sunday.
Both races will be broadcast live and free on the screens of Seven in Australia, Sky Sport in New Zealand, while International viewers can watch on motorsport.tv, or via the GT World Challenge YouTube channel.
QUOTES
Shane van Gisbergen
Driver, #888 Mercedes Benz AMG GT3
“I’m really excited to get back into our GT car,” said van Gisbergen.
“Unfortunately I missed the first round in Phillip Island, but any time you get to drives laps around Bathurst is awesome, especially in a GT car which is always cool. I’m really looking forward to it.
“I’ve been working a fair bit with Iman (Prince Jefri), especially on the simulator and track days at Norwell Motorplex, and even did some races with other cars on track so he can got a feel for everything.
“There’s nothing you can do to prepare yourself for Bathurst other than race laps, which is going to be the hardest thing.”
|
Car # |
Class |
Division |
Driver A |
Driver B |
Make |
Model |
|
7 |
Champ |
Am |
Tony Quinn |
Aston Martin |
Vantage GT3 2019 |
|
|
9 |
Champ |
Am |
Marc Cini |
Audi |
R8 LMS Evo |
|
|
51 |
Champ |
Am |
Andrew Macpherson |
Ben Porter |
Lamborghini |
Huracan |
|
91 |
Champ |
Am |
Arthur Abrahams |
Audi |
R8 LMS Evo |
|
|
4 |
Champ |
Pro/Am |
Stephen Grove |
Brenton Grove |
Porsche |
GT3-R 911-II |
|
6 |
Champ |
Pro/Am |
Adrian Deitz |
David Wall |
Lamborghini |
Huracan GT3 Evo |
|
24 |
Champ |
Pro/Am |
Tony Bates |
Chaz Mostert |
Audi |
R8 LMS Evo |
|
777 |
Champ |
Pro/Am |
Yasser Shahin |
Garth Tander |
Audi |
R8 LMS Evo |
|
888 |
Champ |
Pro/Am |
Prince Jefri Ibrahim |
Shane van Gisbergen |
Mercedes |
AMG GT3 |
|
19 |
GT4 |
Am |
Mark Griffith |
Mercedes |
GT4 |
|
|
5 |
Trophy |
Am |
Greg Taylor |
Audi |
R8 LMS Ultra |
|
|
23 |
Trophy |
Am |
Matt Stoupas |
Audi |
R8 LMS |
|
|
33 |
Trophy |
Am |
Vince Muriti |
Mercedes |
AMG-GT3 |
|
|
38 |
Trophy |
Am |
Michael Bailey |
Aston Martin |
Vantage GT3 2014 |
|
|
55 |
Trophy |
Am |
Brad Schumacher |
Audi |
R8 LMS Ultra |
|
|
96 |
Trophy |
Am |
Brett Hobson |
Nissan |
Nismo GT3 |
|
|
99 |
Trophy |
Am |
Nick Kelly |
Mercedes |
AMG-GT3 |
|
|
124 |
Trophy |
Am |
Gary Higgon |
Paul Stokell |
Audi |
R8 LMS |