Jordan Love has departed a successful penultimate round of the 2017 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia presented by Pirelli season with one hand on the championship trophy, while Anthony Gilbertson and Sam Shahin are set for an epic Elite Class showdown at the Phillip Island finale.

 

Love had an impressive Queensland Raceway round, securing the Jim Richards Endurance Trophy on Saturday before claiming a dominant victory in both Sunday races, sealing the round win and an almost unassailable lead in both the Outright and Professional Class standings. Brenton Grove’s impressive Ipswich round, placing second in every race, was the only thing keeping the title race alive into the final round of the season.

 

The clean sweep also continued Love’s winning streak across 10 straight races, a new GT3 Cup Challenge record.

 

The series now heads to Phillip Island on September 08-09 where Love will look to become the 2017 GT3 Cup Challenge champion.

 

“It was a great weekend here in Queensland. I felt like I wasn’t prepared enough for our last round in Sydney so I worked to ensure I was properly prepared heading into this weekend. It resulted in great results but also the ability to remain consistent all weekend,” said Love.

 

“There are still three more races remaining for the season so there are plenty of points up for grabs. We’re going to go into Phillip Island with the same attitude as we entered Queensland Raceway and aim to finish the season on a high.”

 

An entertaining Elite Class battle at Queensland Raceway has set up a sensational class title fight leading into the final round, with Gilbertson leading Shahin by a mere seven points after two exciting Sunday races.

 

Gilbertson was leading the class battle in Sunday’s race two before spinning, while a closely trailing Shahin clipped Gilbertson. Both cars sustained damage but were able to continue, allowing John Karytinos to take the race win from John Morriss, Brett Boulton, Shahin and Gilbertson.

 

Gilbertson then repeated his race one effort with class victory in race three from Shahin and Karytinos, handing Gilbertson the class round win – from Karytinos and Shahin – and a seven-point class lead with three races remaining for the season.

 

“The battle between Sam Shahin, John Karytinos and myself has been great all year so it was pretty special to have all three of us on the podium this weekend. I can’t wait for Phillip Island.”

 

Class B also provided many highlights for the Queensland Raceway round between Brendan Cook and class points leader David Greig, with two race wins and a second place in race three handing Cook his maiden class win in the series.

 

“David pushed me to the limit and hopefully I pushed him also. It was great racing all weekend and I’m thrilled to come away with my first class win in the series. I’ve come second that many times that I wasn’t going to let this one go!” said Cook. “We’ll head to Phillip Island and hopefully get another class round win.”

 

While placing second in Class B, Greig has established an unassailable points lead in the class with one round remaining.

 

Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia presented by Pirelli returns to the track in five weeks for its season finale at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit on September 08-09, 2017.