By Sam Tickell

By mid-season, the Australian GT Championship was starting to get back on the right track

We have extensively reported the Australian GT Championship experienced throughout 2008. Indeed there seemed to be times where we were unsure if the Championship would last the season.

But it did – and again it seems to be on the ascendancy.

Our review of the 2007 Australian GT season spoke of positive times for the Series. GT3 cars were being purchased, the Australian Tourist Trophy had been resurrected and Allan Simonsen had won the title.

By the start of 2008, however, everything was beginning to unravel. Only nine cars turned up for the first round at Eastern Creek – less than half of the entries for the final round of 2007.

While the next two rounds drew healthy grids, courtesy of the events they were supporting, round four told of the actual health of the Series.

Round four at Oran Park was cancelled due to lack of interest, or rather, entries. A row with some Porsche owners had seen a withdrawal of support and an alternate Porsche series established.

But rather than giving up and closing the Series, the Australian GT Championship was relaunched as a multi-class series, providing different three different Championships and offering a competition home for many cars and drivers who had seen their own Series discontinued over the previous seasons.

The first round of this relaunched Series took place at Eastern Creek and the entries were up around 17-18. Phillip Island and Eastern Creek followed – with similar entry lists.

Time will tell whether this new formula will be successful and draw larger grids but at least for the time being, the GT Championship’s lowest point is behind it.

The Championship also suffered from its fair share of accident damage. Driving standards, yellow flag procedures and bad luck would be the main factors to two separate accidents that effectively saw four cars written off and driver injuries – fortunately none were serious injuries.

These accidents did end the competitive life of the race winning Lucas Lotus, Teulan Ferrari, Kaias Aston Martin and it ended the racing life of the Burke Porsche Cup S – even before it was able to turn a racing lap in the Series.

The Series has put additional measures into force for 2009 to ensure this expensive trend does not continue.

Aside from the political and expensive mess that occurred in 2008, the racing was strong. Defending Champion, Allan Simonsen could only compete in a part season, due to FIA GT and Le Mans Series commitments, but was nigh-on untouchable when on track. It was enough to see him finish second in the points chase.

Another part time pro was John Bowe. Like Simonsen, he only ran a part season but had lost none of his speed since his retirement from V8 Supercars and finished fifth in the end of year standings.

Without full time professionals in the Series, the title battle came down to a battle between Peter Lucas, John Kaias, Ross Lilly and Mark Eddy.

Lucas was racing his Lotus Elise and fended off much more fancied machinery to win at Eastern Creek, the first round of the relaunched Series. His title shot and his car were written off in an accident at Phillip Island.

That left three. Kaias had also won his first race in the Series but he too had an accident that saw his car virtually written off at Sandown – certainly an unsatisfactory end for one of the most popular cars in the Series.

Lilly could have also won the Title. Racing most of the season with a GT3 spec Lamborghini Gallardo, he swapped to a Dodge Viper for the last round. But that stage, however his title shot was gone – due in no small part to missing the Phillip Island round.

So that left Mark Eddy in his Lamborghini. While the season was not all smooth sailing for the Victorian driver, he was able to consistently start and finish races consistently – an important ingredient for a successful 2008 season.

Ivan Capelli and Trofeo Motorsport were a welcome addition to the Sandown Grid

A special mention should also be given to the last round of the season, that at Sandown. Joining the Series was Trofeo Motorsport and their three GT3 spec Maseratis. Also joining with their team for a one-off race was ex-F1 driver, Ivan Capelli, who showed that he was capable of pushing almost as hard as he did 20 years ago, at the peak of his F1 career.

At various times, the 2008 season promised so much, could have taken so much but ended positively. Lets hope 2009 can take this momentum forward – in a way that 2008 failed to achieve.