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Brett Hobson and Chaz Mostert secure first GT World Challenge Australia poles for the season
GT Trophy driver Brett Hobson has sprung a surprise at Phillip Island by scoring pole position for tomorrow’s opening race as Chaz Mostert took the other for the opening round of Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia.
Hobson won out in the first qualifying session as he achieved a 1m 30.1906s to make it a dream racing debut in his Nissan GT-R GT3. The Coinspot Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II driven by Mostert’s co-driver Liam Talbot will start alongside, while reigning Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS winner Yasser Shahin is positioned in an uncustomary third.
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Alongside Shahin is another GT Trophy specification model in the form of Brad Schumacher’s Kelso Electric Audi, with Am leader Matt Stoupas on the third row in the newer evo II model alongside Tony Bates in his newly liveried example.
GT4 stalwart Mark Griffith won pole in his Mercedes ahead of Ross Poulakis and the Ginetta of Madeline Stewart.
In the second instalment, it was a highly anticipated battle between Pro drivers Mostert, Shane van Gisbergen, David Reynolds, Tony D’Alberto and Christopher Mies.
It didn’t disappoint as Mostert defeated practice pacesetter van Gisbergen by 0.1058s as Mies trailed the benchmark time by 0.3410s.
Triple-time Australian Drivers’ Champion Paul Stokell mixed it with the Pros to position the KFC-supported Audi he’ll share with Gary Higgon in fifth, dipping into the 1m 29s to lead the Am Class.
Garth Walden placed second in Am driving the RAM Motorsport Mercedes ahead of reigning class winner Ben Porter in the AMAC Motorsport Lamborghini.
Again, Hobson is well placed in GT Trophy pole ahead of Schumacher and the Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Vince Muriti.
In GT4, Sam Brabham continued his practice form to score pole from Griffith and Stewart.
The first one hour race to start the second season of the Fanatec GT World Australia Powered by AWS begins at 1:45pm AEDT live and uninterrupted on Stan Sport.
The Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS will be supported by an impressive array of racing categories, including the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series, Turtle Wax Trans Am Series, the S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship and plenty more.
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Anyone wishing to attend the event is reminded tickets will not be available for purchase at the gate. Tickets must be purchased via Eventbrite prior to entry. Purchasing your tickets in advance will save you time at the gate.
All of the action will be broadcast live and on-demand on Stan Sport, with midweek highlights on the Nine Network’s 9GEM channel.
QUOTES
Chaz Mostert
“It was a lot of fun teaming up with Liam (Talbot) and its great to be back with the MPC crew,” said Mostert.
“Anytime you get to drive a GT car is a lot of fun. It has been a successful day for us I’m pretty sure Liam ended up second in the first qualifying, and then we ended up putting it on pole for the last one.
“So overall couple of front row starts for Saturday and Sunday races and good to be back with this team, it’s a lot of fun after last year. I’m looking forward to the race.”
Liam Talbot
“Yeah, it’s fantastic to get pole and any day here in a GT3 car is mega,” said Talbot.
“To be fast and obviously got second in the Qualifying session was good, so we’re on the front row and I can’t wait.”
Paul Stokell
“We started the day probably a little behind the eight ball, but we’ve worked on it throughout the morning and this afternoon we made a few tweaks and the car actually come good,” said Stokell.
“We’ve got to find a race balance between myself and Gary, and I’m pretty happy where we were.”