Porsche Junior Jordan Love has set the pace early in Friday practice for the second round of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia presented by Pirelli season, with double duty driver Anthony Gilbertson leading the Elite Class contingent.
Love, in his second round in the all-Porsche series, posted a best time half-a-second quicker than his closest rival, fellow young gun and Professional Class driver Brenton Grove.
Gilbertson was the best of the Elite Class runners in third with the top four in the class – Gilbertson, John Karytinos, John Morriss and Sam Shahin – covered by just 0.5 seconds.
Series rookie John Steffensen continued his strong initial pace with the seventh fastest outright time from Nick Karnaros, Ben Stack and Rob Woods in 10th.
David Greig topped the Class B times from Michael Tsigeridis.
Friday was eventful for several of the GT3 Cup Challenge competitors, with Shahin, Gilbertson and Woods driving in both the GT3 Cup Challenge series and the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia championship as part of its annual Pro-Am round.
The series is this weekend helping to celebrate the 100th Shannons Nationals event, which has been the home of 51 of GT3 Cup Challenge’s 53 events since its started in 2008.
Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia presented by Pirelli is set to hold three 11-lap races across the Phillip Island round. Saturday will feature qualifying and the opening race of the weekend while Sunday will feature race two and race three.
To watch the two Sunday races of GT3 Cup Challenge from Phillip Island, link to the live stream, available at the Shannons Nationals website at www.thenationals.com.au.
Combined Results – Practice 1 & 2
1. #79 Jordan Love (Professional Class) Quintis – 1:32.5173*
2. #23 Brenton Grove (Professional Class) Grove Hire – 1:33.0369s
3. #19 Anthony Gilbertson (Elite Class) Richmonds Automotive – 1:33.3311s
4. #16 John Karytinos (Elite Class) Hallmark Homes – 1:33.3386s
5. #34 John Morriss (Elite Class) Motorsport Leasing P/L – 1:33.5813s
6. #13 Sam Shahin (Elite Class) HTFU – 1:33.8710s
7. #16 John Steffensen (Professional Class) Zagame Autosport – 1:33.8747s
8. #25 Nick Karnaros (Elite Class) Porsche Centre Brighton – 1:34.1966s
9. #65 Ben Stack (Elite Class) DNA Racing – 1:34.6582s
10. #29 Rob Woods (Elite Class) Platinum Nightclub – 1:34.9306s
11. #68 Michael O’Donnell SHOAL / Thomson Geer – 1:35.4853s
12. #88 Phil Morriss (Elite Class) Morriss Racing Services – 1:35.6061s
13. #84 Brett Boulton (Elite Class) Bold Living – 1:35.8343s
14. #99 Ross McGregor (Elite Class) Southern Star Windows – 1:36.7959s
15. #87 David Greig (Class B) 1:38.1963s
16. #81 Michael Tsigeridis (Class B) Hunter French Real Estate – 1:38.4189s
Race Schedule
Saturday May 27, 2017
11:05am Qualifying (20 minutes)
1:30pm Race 1 (11 laps)
Sunday May 28, 2017
9:20am Race 2 (11 laps)
11:20am Race 3 (11 laps)
