Safe-T-Stop Lamborghini ace Richard Gartner proved unstoppable at Queensland Raceway, claiming a clean sweep at Round 3 of the CAMS Australian GT Trophy Series presented by Pirelli.
Gartner charged to his first Australian GT pole position on Saturday, converting it into his maiden win in the weekend’s opening race.
Heading the field from pole, Gartner drove a brilliant opener, absorbing intense pressure from Rod Salmon (Skwirk Online Education) as the pair circulated nose to tail for much of the 50-minute race.
Though faster through the corners, Salmon was unable to match Gartner’s Lamborghini in a straight line as the two leaders locked horns in an enthralling contest.
Roles were reversed in Race 2, with Salmon getting away at the start to lead until the pit stops, at which point Gartner once again assumed control to win the race from Wayne Mack (Mack Bros Roofing Products).
Mack had emerged from the pits ahead of Salmon in Race 2, the pair battling until the penultimate lap when Salmon finally found a way through in the Ferrari 458 GT3.
However the positions were reversed post-race, with Salmon relegated to third after a five-second penalty was applied for a jump start.
Mack experienced a mixed weekend, having started from pit lane before charging through the field to fourth place in Race 1.
His results saw him claim fourth for the weekend, narrowly missing out on a podium as the consistency of Steve McLaughlan (Valvoline Jamec Pem) saw the points leader bank important points in the title race.
McLaughlan had fallen to fifth early in the opening race, dicing with the impressive Aaron Cameron in the opening laps, before a measured performance in Race 2 saw him add 145-points to his tally for the round.
The impressive Cameron claimed the MARC Class victory in both of the weekend’s races, while Brad Woods and Tyler Everingham combined to take second for the round. John Goodacre (Gap Solutions/SEKTOR) secured third in class, while Jake Camilleri struggled with mechanical issues across both races despite demonstrating strong speed.
Challenge Modern class went to Mark Griffith (Griffith Corporation), who raced his way into the top ten in Race 1 after starting from the rear of the grid.
He recorded another top ten in Race 2 to secure class honours ahead of Scott Hookey (Fiorano Motorsport) while Ferrari confirmed all three class podium places courtesy of John Nikolovski and Jamie Arratoon who shared the Arakin Racing Ferrari 458 Challenge.
Gartner’s perfect weekend propels him to third in the points standings with 391points, overhauling Rick Mensa (301pts) who nursed a long brake pedal to the flag in the second race.
Two podiums see Salmon edge closer to McLaughlan at the top of the standings, the Valvoline Jamec Pem racer now just 87points clear at the top of the standings with two rounds remaining.
Salmon also reset the Queensland Raceway lap record, lowering the benchmark to 1m10.990s midway through the opening race, shaving almost a second and a half off the previous marker.
The CAMS Australian GT Trophy Series presented by Pirelli now heads to Phillip Island for Round 3 (September 8-10).
Australian GT will next be in action when the CAMS Australian Endurance Championship heads to Sydney Motorsport Park on August 18 – 19.
Race 1 Results: Queensland Raceway
Pos Competitor/Team Driver Vehicle Laps Time
1 Safe-T-Stop Richard Gartner Lamborghini Gallardo 40 51:56.086
2 Audi Sport Customer Racing Rod Salmon Audi R8 LMS Ultra 40 51:57.581
3 Audi Sport Customer Racing Steve McLaughlan Audi R8 LMS Ultra 40 52:06.922
4 Mack Bros Roofing Products Wayne Mack Ferrari 458 GT3 40 52:21.158
5 Audi Sport Customer Racing Rob Smith Audi R8 LMS Ultra 40 52:22.697
6 CCC Polished Concrete Rick Mensa Audi R8 LMS 40 52:25.070
7 JJA Consulting Group Jan Jinadasa Lamborghini Gallardo 40 52:48.972
8 MARC Cars Australia Aaron Cameron MARC Focus V8 40 52:59.845
9 Audi Sport Customer Racing Rio Nugara Audi R8 LMS Ultra 40 53:03.811
10 Griffith Corporation Mark Griffith Ferrari F430 39 52:03.910
11 Fiorano Motorsport Scott Hookey Ferrari 458 Challenge 39 52:36.622
12 Harcourts Epping Emanuel Mezzasalma Porsche 997 39 52:48.604
13 MARC Cars Australia Brad Woods/Tyler Everingham MARC Mazda V8 39 53:01.297
14 Eastgate Engineering Geoff Taunton/Jason Busk MARC Focus V8 39 53:01.994
15 Anarik Racing Jamie Arratoon/John Nikolovski Ferrari 458 Challenge 38 52:27.673
16 Whitlock Bull Bars Con Whitlock Audi R8 LMS 37 52:09.744
17 On Track Motorsport Garry Mennell/Kean Booker Porsche 997 37 52:28.101
18 Solar & Energy Finance Ant Basile/Todd O’Brien Ginetta G50 GT4 35 52:09.023
DNF Gap Solutions/SEKTOR John Goodacre MARC Focus V8 36 52:17.228
DNF MARC Cars Australia Jake Camilleri MARC Mazda V8 24 52:30.424
Race 2 Results: Queensland Raceway
Pos Car Competitor/Team Driver Vehicle Laps Time
1 69 Safe-T-Stop Richard Gartner Lamborghini Gallardo 40 49:33.448
2 147 Mack Bros Roofing Products Wayne Mack Ferrari 458 GT3 40 49:40.291
3 6 Audi Sport Customer Racing Rod Salmon Audi R8 LMS Ultra 40 49:44.027
4 75 Audi Sport Customer Racing Steve McLaughlan Audi R8 LMS Ultra 40 49:53.001
5 91 MARC Cars Australia Aaron Cameron MARC Focus V8 40 50:05.238
6 77 JJA Consulting Group Jan Jinadasa Lamborghini Gallardo 40 50:05.746
7 66 Gap Solutions/SEKTOR John Goodacre MARC Focus V8 39 49:50.364
8 10 Harcourts Epping Emanuel Mezzasalma Porsche 997 39 49:52.442
9 19 Griffith Corporation Mark Griffith Ferrari F430 39 49:53.877
10 94 MARC Cars Australia Brad Woods MARC Mazda V8 39 50:02.475
11 33 Fiorano Motorsport Scott Hookey Ferrari 458 Challenge 39 50:25.441
12 95 Eastgate Engineering Geoff Taunton MARC Focus V8 39 50:41.029
13 72 Whitlock Bull Bars Con Whitlock Audi R8 LMS 38 50:33.327
14 12 Anarik Racing Jamie Arratoon Ferrari 458 Challenge 38 50:33.681
15 22 CCC Polished Concrete Rick Mensa Audi R8 LMS 38 50:38.099
16 40 On Track Motorsport Garry Mennell Porsche 997 37 50:16.642
17 111 Solar & Energy Finance Ant Basile Ginetta G50 GT4 36 50:18.678
18 1 Audi Sport Customer Racing Rob Smith Audi R8 LMS Ultra 37 46:07.344
19 88 Audi Sport Customer Racing Rio Nugara Audi R8 LMS Ultra 18 22:23.123
20 93 MARC Cars Australia Jake Camilleri MARC Mazda V8 7 12:17.608
