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International stars join Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS finale
Former Formula 1 and current Shannons S5000 Tasman Series driver Roberto Merhi and international GT star Christopher Mies will contest the final round of Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia at Mount Panorama next week.
Mies is aiming to help Melbourne Performance Centre’s Yasser Shahin secure the inaugural GT World Challenge Australia Pro-Am title, with the South Australian holding a 37-point advantage ahead of Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Prince Jefri Ibrahim.
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Mies is no stranger to the mountain and Audi GT3 machinery, having won the Bathurst 12 Hour in 2011 and 2012. He will add to his weekend duties by contesting the final round of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series, driving an Audi RS 3 as a guest driver.
Rosser will race for the first at the Mountain with Mehri acting as a mentor and team-mate during the course of the weekend.
After upgrading to a current specification Audi R8 GT3 LMS Evo during the season’s hiatus, Rosser is looking forward to the challenge.
“Obviously he’s a very talented driver so hopefully I can learn a thing or two from him and it will be exciting to watch him learn the track as well,” said Rosser.
“I was sitting in a lot of his debriefs at Sydney Motorsport Park with the Team BRM guys in the S5000 and just hearing his feedback was a really good learning experience for me.
“I’m sure he’ll dial in the car nicely for me at the Mountain.”
The association was made through Team BRM as Rosser completed odd jobs for the squad at the opening Shannons S5000 Tasman Series round at SMP where he got to know both the international drivers entered in the series, Mehri and Yoshi Katayama.
Rosser’s Catan-liveried Audi is one of many new entries for this round including a similar Coin Spot-backed R8 GT3 LMS Evo for local GT racing returnees Liam Talbot and Fraser Ross.
Prince Jefri will also call on a new co-driver in the form of Australian Endurance Championship and Tourist Trophy winner Peter Hackett, providing an interesting side story to the title battle.
Finalising the Pro-Am entries is the Grove Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R, with father-son team Stephen and Brenton Grove aiming to end their maiden season in local GT racing on a high.
AMAC Motorsport has swapped to a Porsche 911 GT3R as Andrew Macpherson and Ben Porter aim to take the honours in Am Class.
GT returnees James and Theo Koundouris as well as Marc Cini will enter the Am Class in Audis, joining regular Gary Higgon.
RAM Motorsport will make its Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS debut with Mike Sheargold and Garth Walden driving a recently upgraded Mercedes-AMG GT3.
A tight battle is promised in GT Trophy as just 25-points separate local driver Brad Schumacher, who will debut a newer specification Audi R8 GT3 LMS and Brett Hobson’s Nissan GT-R GT3.
One addition sure to be a fan favourite will be Mike Bailey’s Bentley Continental GT3 and rounding out the GT Trophy field is Scott Taylor in his Porsche 911 GT3R.
The field is completed by Mark Griffith in his Mercedes-AMG GT4.
The Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS action begins at 9:50am AEDT for Practice 1 ahead of two one-hour races to decide each title.
ENTRY LIST, ROUND 4, FANATEC GT WORLD CHALLENGE AUSTRALIA POWERED BY AWS
| Entry Type | Car # | Division | Sponsor | Driver 1 | Driver 2 | Car Make | Car Model |
| Champ | 9 | Am | Hallmarc | Marc Cini | Audi | R8 LMS Evo | |
| Champ | 17 | Am | What do you Meme? | Mark Rosser | Audi | R8 LMS EVO | |
| Champ | 45 | AM | RAM Motorsport / GWR Australia | Mike Sheargold | Garth Walden | Mercedes | AMG GT3 |
| Champ | 51 | Am | Imak Kwikmit | Andrew Macpherson | Ben Porter | Porsche | GT3-R |
| Champ | 69 | Am | Supabarn | James Koundouris | Theo Koundouris | Audi | R8 LMS Evo |
| Champ | 124 | Am | K.F.C. | Gary Higgon | Paul Stokell | Audi | R8 LMS EVO |
| Champ | 4 | Pro/Am | Grove Group / Dasher + Fisher Gin | Stephen Grove | Brenton Grove | Porsche | GT3-R 911-II |
| Champ | 65 | Pro/Am | Coin Spot | Liam Talbot | Fraser Ross | Audi | R8 LMS Evo |
| Champ | 777 | Pro/Am | The Bend Motorsport Park / Valvoline | Yasser Shahin | Chris Mies | Audi | R8 LMS Evo |
| Champ | 888 | Pro/Am | Triple Eight Race Engineering – JMR | Prince Jefri Ibrahim | Peter Hackett | Mercedes | AMG GT3 |
| GT4 | 19 | Am | Daimler Trucks Brisbane | Mark Griffith | Mercedes | GT4 | |
| Trophy | 38 | Am | Trading Garage / The Motorists | Michael Bailey | Bentley | GT3 | |
| Trophy | 55 | Am | Schumacher Motorsport / Kelso Electrical | Brad Schumacher | Audi | R8 LMS | |
| Trophy | 96 | Am | Hobson Motorsport | Brett Hobson | Nissan | Nismo GT3 | |
| Trophy | 222 | AM | Scott Taylor Motorsport | Scott Taylor | 0 | Porsche | GT3-R |