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GT Racing
GT: Lowndes, Engel Come Out On Top At Phillip Island
Guest drivers steal the limelight in the Australian GT Championship at Phillip Island...
Aussie V8 legend Craig Lowndes scored his first-ever Australian GT Championship victory last weekend at Phillip Island. (Photo: Nathan Wong/Speed Shots Photography)
Australian legend Craig Lowndes and European ace Maro Engel made their mark on the Sargent Security Australian GT Championship as the two joined the series for one-off drives at Phillip Island on the weekend.
The two imports ensured that the weekend took on a very German feel with Lowndes taking the wheel of the car that won the 2012 Bathurst 12 Hours - an Audi R8 LMS and Engel taking over James Brock's Erebus Racing Mercedes SLS GT3.
Lowndes gave Melbourne Performance Centre a chance to showcase the Audi and the Championship to showcase the brand as they look to expand the Audi challenge in the Championship and the future Bathurst 12 Hour.
The driver changes were key in the fight for the driver's title with Erebus Racing's Peter Hackett in a fight with VIP Petfood Porsche's Klark Quinn. Hackett's old teammate, Brock had been released after damaging the chrome Mercedes numerous times throughout the season.
Engel had been drafted in a raft of European drivers to help the team see the Championship out. Engel, a former DTM driver and F3 front runner knew the importance of his duties for the weekend.
"Erebus have a great relationship with the AMG Motorsports department which is where I work. We have been thrilled with Peter's Championship challenge and I am here to help him in his title run, increase his lead in the championship and get a good result."
"[Coming into the weekend] it was a bit of an unknown, I know the car fairly well and I am confident in what I can do with that. The track isn't the easiest - it is very fast so I will need to adapt quickly."
"Peter is doing a great job here - he is the benchmark of the Australian GT Championship."
The race weekend wasn't to be solely between just the Audi and Mercedes cars. Maranello Motorsport's two cars for Allan Simonsen\Nick O'Halloran and John Bowe\Peter Edwards would be in the fight for the win. Klark Quinn and Tony Quinn would also be aiming to take the fight to the front runners.
Qualifying was held in sunny conditions with Engel and Simonsen setting the pace. The pair traded the fastest time with Engel taking pole by 0.18 from Simonsen with a 1:29.614.
The race wouldn’t be kind to the Maranello Motorsport Ferraris though, with Simonsen appearing to make a very strong start - taking the lead off the start.
The start would prove to be that little bit too good though and was given a drive through penalty, ruining his race. The sister Maranello Ferrari would retire early with power steering issues.
That left the Lowndes Audi, K.Quinn's Porsche and the two Erebus Racing Mercedes fighting for the victory.
By quarter distance, Engel and Lowndes managed to pull a gap - a gap that they wouldn't lose. in fact, the duo's race would be decided in the pits. Lowndes by virtue of a shorter compulsory pitstop was able to emerge from the pits ahead of Engel.
With Lowndes' experience and neither driver wanting to bend their borrowed cars, Lowndes wouldn't lose the lead for the rest of the race.
The two imports ensured that the weekend took on a very German feel with Lowndes taking the wheel of the car that won the 2012 Bathurst 12 Hours - an Audi R8 LMS and Engel taking over James Brock's Erebus Racing Mercedes SLS GT3.
Lowndes gave Melbourne Performance Centre a chance to showcase the Audi and the Championship to showcase the brand as they look to expand the Audi challenge in the Championship and the future Bathurst 12 Hour.
The driver changes were key in the fight for the driver's title with Erebus Racing's Peter Hackett in a fight with VIP Petfood Porsche's Klark Quinn. Hackett's old teammate, Brock had been released after damaging the chrome Mercedes numerous times throughout the season.
Engel had been drafted in a raft of European drivers to help the team see the Championship out. Engel, a former DTM driver and F3 front runner knew the importance of his duties for the weekend.
"Erebus have a great relationship with the AMG Motorsports department which is where I work. We have been thrilled with Peter's Championship challenge and I am here to help him in his title run, increase his lead in the championship and get a good result."
"[Coming into the weekend] it was a bit of an unknown, I know the car fairly well and I am confident in what I can do with that. The track isn't the easiest - it is very fast so I will need to adapt quickly."
"Peter is doing a great job here - he is the benchmark of the Australian GT Championship."
The race weekend wasn't to be solely between just the Audi and Mercedes cars. Maranello Motorsport's two cars for Allan Simonsen\Nick O'Halloran and John Bowe\Peter Edwards would be in the fight for the win. Klark Quinn and Tony Quinn would also be aiming to take the fight to the front runners.
Qualifying was held in sunny conditions with Engel and Simonsen setting the pace. The pair traded the fastest time with Engel taking pole by 0.18 from Simonsen with a 1:29.614.
The race wouldn’t be kind to the Maranello Motorsport Ferraris though, with Simonsen appearing to make a very strong start - taking the lead off the start.
The start would prove to be that little bit too good though and was given a drive through penalty, ruining his race. The sister Maranello Ferrari would retire early with power steering issues.
That left the Lowndes Audi, K.Quinn's Porsche and the two Erebus Racing Mercedes fighting for the victory.
By quarter distance, Engel and Lowndes managed to pull a gap - a gap that they wouldn't lose. in fact, the duo's race would be decided in the pits. Lowndes by virtue of a shorter compulsory pitstop was able to emerge from the pits ahead of Engel.
With Lowndes' experience and neither driver wanting to bend their borrowed cars, Lowndes wouldn't lose the lead for the rest of the race.
FIA GT Nogaro
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