South Australians Dan Day and Sam Shahin have topped the Pro and Pro-Am times in Friday practice ahead of the final day of competition for the 2018 Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Australia championship.
Day’s best time of Friday was late in the second session, three-tenths ahead of title contender Simon Fallon from Max Vidau and points leader Cooper Murray, who was the only driver in the top nine to record his best time in the earlier practice session.
“We had a lot to work on after practice one, then fitted the new tyres for practice two and treated it as a qualifying session, ending up with a good time,” said Day.
“After looking at some of the data from practice two we still have a bit more pace to gain and I’m sure it’s the same with the other guys. We’ve wanted to be fast all year and I feel like we’re coming on strong.”
Murray and Fallon now enter the final day of competition just 11 points apart in the overall standings and 24 points apart in the Pro class points, with 120 points on offer on the final day of the season.
Sam Shahin will look to book-end the 2018 GT3 Cup Challenge season with Pro-Am round wins. Shahin secured a stunning Pro-Am round win at his own The Bend Motorsport Park race track in the opening round of the 2018 season before a break from the series mid-season. Shahin returns to the series this weekend, restarting his GT3 Cup Challenge campaign in style with the best Pro-Am performance in both practice sessions.
Pro-Am points leader Danny Stutterd was the next best driver in class from Friday, with Marcel Zalloua and Brett Boulton third and fourth in the Pro-Am class.
Meanwhile, Class B champion-elect Christian Pancione finished Friday less than two seconds off the pace of the leading Class A contenders at the head of the Class B field. Winton class winner Sergio Pires was the second fastest in Class B on Friday from David Greig and Phil Morriss.
Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Australia will hold qualifying and two races on Saturday for what will be the final day of the 2018 season.
Race Schedule
Saturday September 22
8:30am Qualifying (20 minutes)
11:48am Race 1 (15 laps)
3:42pm Race 2 (15 laps)
Results: Practice 1
| Position | Car | Driver | Class | Fastest lap | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 36 | Cooper Murray | Pro | 1:32.0914 | |
| 2 | 77 | Max Vidau | Pro | 1:32.4430 | 0:00.3516 |
| 3 | 96 | Simon Fallon | Pro | 1:32.7835 | 0:00.6921 |
| 4 | 7 | Jimmy Vernon | Pro | 1:32.7842 | 0:00.6928 |
| 5 | 13 | Sam Shahin | Pro-Am | 1:32.9039 | 0:00.8125 |
| 6 | 38 | Chelsea Angelo | Pro | 1:33.0654 | 0:00.9740 |
| 7 | 2 | Dan Day | Pro | 1:33.1071 | 0:01.0157 |
| 8 | 230 | Luis Leeds | Pro | 1:33.1707 | 0:01.0793 |
| 9 | 17 | Marcel Zalloua | Pro-Am | 1:33.2622 | 0:01.1708 |
| 10 | 23 | Danny Stutterd | Pro-Am | 1:33.9175 | 0:01.8261 |
| 11 | 84 | Brett Boulton | Pro-Am | 1:34.0047 | 0:01.9133 |
| 12 | 73 | Michael Hovey | Pro-Am | 1:34.1317 | 0:02.0403 |
| 13 | 76 | Christian Pancione | Class B | 1:34.4887 | 0:02.3973 |
| 14 | 27 | Sam Fillmore | Pro-Am | 1:34.8180 | 0:02.7266 |
| 15 | 99 | Ross McGregor | Pro-Am | 1:34.8927 | 0:02.8013 |
| 16 | 117 | Sergio Pires | Class B | 1:35.2241 | 0:03.1327 |
| 17 | 21 | Shane Barwood | Pro-Am | 1:35.8126 | 0:03.7212 |
| 18 | 88 | Phil Morriss | Class B | 1:36.3997 | 0:04.3083 |
| 19 | 87 | David Greig | Class B | 1:36.5947 | 0:04.5033 |
| 20 | 10 | Michael Loccisano | Pro-Am | 1:36.8586 | 0:04.7672 |
| 21 | 26 | Tom Taplin | Pro | 1:36.8857 | 0:04.7943 |
| 22 | 131 | Graham Williams | Pro-Am | 1:36.8926 | 0:04.8012 |
| 23 | 22 | Andrew Goldie | Class B | 1:38.1980 | 0:06.1066 |
| 24 | 57 | Richard Bloomfield | Class B | 1:38.7475 | 0:06.6561 |
| 25 | 9 | Tony Martin | Class B | 1:40.7142 | 0:08.6228 |
Results: Practice 2
| Position | Car | Driver | Class | Fastest lap | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Dan Day | Pro | 1:31.4790 | |
| 2 | 96 | Simon Fallon | Pro | 1:31.7846 | 0:00.3056 |
| 3 | 77 | Max Vidau | Pro | 1:32.0568 | 0:00.5778 |
| 4 | 230 | Luis Leeds | Pro | 1:32.1189 | 0:00.6399 |
| 5 | 38 | Chelsea Angelo | Pro | 1:32.5706 | 0:01.0916 |
| 6 | 7 | Jimmy Vernon | Pro | 1:32.6093 | 0:01.1303 |
| 7 | 13 | Sam Shahin | Pro-Am | 1:32.7209 | 0:01.2419 |
| 8 | 36 | Cooper Murray | Pro | 1:32.7308 | 0:01.2518 |
| 9 | 23 | Daniel Stutterd | Pro-Am | 1:33.2556 | 0:01.7766 |
| 10 | 76 | Christian Pancione | Class B | 1:33.3232 | 0:01.8442 |
| 11 | 84 | Brett Boulton | Pro-Am | 1:33.6233 | 0:02.1443 |
| 12 | 17 | Marcel Zalloua | Pro-Am | 1:33.6558 | 0:02.1768 |
| 13 | 26 | Tom Taplin | Pro | 1:33.9754 | 0:02.4964 |
| 14 | 27 | Sam Fillmore | Pro-Am | 1:34.1738 | 0:02.6948 |
| 15 | 99 | Ross McGregor | Pro-Am | 1:34.3077 | 0:02.8287 |
| 16 | 117 | Sergio Pires | Class B | 1:34.4403 | 0:02.9613 |
| 17 | 73 | Michael Hovey | Pro-Am | 1:34.6254 | 0:03.1464 |
| 18 | 21 | Shane Barwood | Pro-Am | 1:35.1890 | 0:03.7100 |
| 19 | 87 | David Greig | Class B | 1:35.8894 | 0:04.4104 |
| 20 | 10 | Michael Loccisano | Pro-Am | 1:36.2402 | 0:04.7612 |
| 21 | 131 | Graham Williams | Pro-Am | 1:36.3973 | 0:04.9183 |
| 22 | 57 | Richard Bloomfield | Class B | 1:36.8185 | 0:05.3395 |
| 23 | 22 | Andrew Goldie | Class B | 1:37.6498 | 0:06.1708 |
| 24 | 9 | Tony Martin | Class B | 1:41.5563 | 0:10.0773 |
