Australian GT
The Australian GT Championship got underway at Eastern Creek
Courtesy of the Australian GT Championship
Allan Simonsen in the Consolidated Chemical Company Ferrari 360GT was the
dominant force in round one of the 2007 Australian GT Championship held at the A1 GP
at Eastern Creek on the week end (February 2-4).
Fastest in practice, qualifying on pole, and winning all three races made it a ‘Simonsen
affair’, but the international ALMS Series driver who left for a test in Europe with the Pro
Drive Aston Martin team straight after the race certainly didn’t have it all his own way.
Exceptionally strong performances from David Wall (Porsche GT3 RSR), Bryce
Washington (Porsche GT3 Cup Car), Peter Hackett (Lamborghini Diablo), Bill Pye
(Porsche GT3 Cup Car) and an unlucky John Teulan (Ferrari 430) made for a great start
to the year.
The result in race one was Simonsen, Wall, and Washington taking the top three
positions followed by Pye and Teulan.
Hackett’s Lamborghini was a non finisher, the Diablo having suffered a clutch issue in
practice and then a faulty gear selector shaft in the first race.
The ex-Paul Stokell machine being driven by Hackett had not been run in anger for
some two years and is only to be used awaiting the arrival of the new Gallardo model,
hopefully for round two of the Championship.
An unfortunate non-starter was South Australia’s Gary Dann (Porsche GT3 Cup Car)
who had an off in the ultra fast turn one in qualifying resulting in heavy damage to the
rear of the car.
Race two saw Washington cross the finishing line in second place a mere .03 seconds
behind Simonsen, with Hackett recovering well from his first race DNF to finish in third.
The impressive Teulan finished in fourth followed by the Porsche GT3 Cup cars of
Damien Flack and Bill Pye.
David Wall’s GT3 RSR Porsche failed to finish the second race suffering an upright
failure, while Sven Burchartz’s Porsche GT3 tore a wheel centre apart.
In race three it was Wall that took second place from Simonsen after a stirring drive off
the rear off the grid, with Washington’s ADRAD Porsche GT3 Cup Car in third from the
menacing Lamborghini of Hackett, followed by the GT3 Cup Cars of Bill Pye, Max Twigg
and Damien Flack.
The hard luck story of the race belonged to John Teulan in the Ferrari 430 who had been
battling with the leaders until a split water pipe resulted in coolant spraying onto a rear
tyre in the worst possible place on the track – turn one.
The damage that had been caused after the Teulan Ferrari had been tapped from
behind by Pye’s Porsche, was minor compared to the resulting collision with Eastern
Creek’s unforgiving barriers, with a repair bill of up to a $100,000.
But with Bill Pye’s best ever GT Championship result, and exceptionally strong
performances from Washington, Wall, Hackett, Damien Flack, Max Twigg and Teulan
plus the return of reigning champion Greg Crick (Dodge Viper GTS ACR) the 2007 GT
Championship is going to be a ‘battle royale’ particularly as Simonsen will not be a
regular competitor due to overseas driving commitments.
Round two of the 2007 Australian GT Championship is a featured event at the Clipsal
500 to be held on Adelaide’s famous 3.2 kilometre street circuit from March 1-4.
Results
Race 1
Pos Car Driver Entrant Vehicle Cap CL Laps Race.Time Fastest...Lap
1 4 Allan Simonsen (VIC) www.consolidatedchem.com.au Ferrari 360 GT 3586 17 27:35.9458 2 1:35.6545*
2 38 David Wall (NSW) "R.D.S, Wall Racing " Porsche GT3 RSR 3600 17 27:36.7977 7 1:36.6350
3 54 Bryce Washington (SA) ADRAD Radiator Experts Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 17 28:14.4888 3 1:37.2662
4 44 Bill Pye (NSW) Autohaus Hamilton Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 17 28:31.0934 3 1:39.0071
5 88 John Teulan (QLD) "Industry Central, Stahlwille" Ferrari 430 4300 17 28:33.1928 3 1:38.4222
6 18 Max Twigg (VIC) Twigg Waste Management Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 17 28:34.6557 4 1:38.4611
7 19 Damien Flack (QLD) "Nexus Cleaning, Roock" Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 17 28:34.9894 4 1:39.7916
8 99 Peter Lucas (NSW) Urban Arrangements Lotus Elise 1998 17 28:43.7538 2 1:39.3013
9 23 Paul Tresidder (NSW) Pelorus Property Group Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 17 29:00.1115 3 1:40.4644
10 32 Blake Lynn (NSW) Lynns Building Materials Porsche GT3 3600 17 29:01.5719 2 1:40.9161
11 43 David Stevens (NSW) "Brennan IT, Securetel " Ferrari 430 4300 17 29:18.5548 3 1:40.3264
12 45 Paul Bolinowsky (NSW) Bolin Racing Porsche GT3 3600 17 29:19.1306 4 1:41.0412
13 51 Ross Lilley (VIC) Koala Furniture Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 16 27:53.0143 3 1:41.8138
14 31 Jon Trende (VIC) WTF Motorsport Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 16 28:01.2979 12 1:43.0746
15 40 Russell Kempnich (QLD) Sedgman Limited Porsche GT3 3600 16 28:29.6873 2 1:45.3047
16 36 Peter Fountas (VIC) Buzza Auto Electrics Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 16 28:36.7125 6 1:45.3432
17 90 Sven Burchartz (VIC) Macpherson & Kelley Lawyers Porsche GT3 3600 15 28:56.7433 4 1:38.5482
DNF 46 Anthony Skinner (NSW) Travelplan Porsche GT3 3600 12 20:32.6348 4 1:40.7645
DNF 77 John Kaias (VIC) Abcor Preston General Engineer Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 6 10:28.1458 2 1:40.3638
DNF 78 Justin Levis (NSW) Cue Lotus Elise 1800 6 11:16.4553 2 1:44.5685
DNF 5 Peter Hackett (VIC) Lamborghini Australia Lamborghini Diablo 6000 4 6:39.0293 4 1:38.2593
DNF 2 Kevin Miller (QLD) Property Solutions Group Ferrari 430 4300 4 7:34.7463 3 1:42.4694
Race 2
1 4 Allan Simonsen (VIC) www.consolidatedchem.com.au Ferrari 360 GT 3586 14 22:39.8874 4 1:35.7247
2 54 Bryce Washington (SA) ADRAD Radiator Experts Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 14 22:40.2347 4 1:35.7819
3 5 Peter Hackett (VIC) Lamborghini Australia Lamborghini Diablo 6000 14 23:07.3667 6 1:36.9182
4 88 John Teulan (QLD) "Industry Central, Stahlwille" Ferrari 430 4300 14 23:09.7211 5 1:38.0775
5 19 Damien Flack (QLD) "Nexus Cleaning, Roock" Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 14 23:10.2494 6 1:37.3367
6 44 Bill Pye (NSW) Autohaus Hamilton Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 14 23:21.1608 9 1:38.4215
7 99 Peter Lucas (NSW) Urban Arrangements Lotus Elise 1998 14 23:23.2631 3 1:38.7202
8 32 Blake Lynn (NSW) Lynns Building Materials Porsche GT3 3600 14 23:24.4288 10 1:38.8865
9 46 Anthony Skinner (NSW) Travelplan Porsche GT3 3600 14 23:25.2165 12 1:38.7486
10 51 Ross Lilley (VIC) Koala Furniture Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 14 23:38.5240 5 1:39.4156
11 45 Paul Bolinowsky (NSW) Bolin Racing Porsche GT3 3600 14 23:42.4166 8 1:39.8823
12 31 Jon Trende (VIC) WTF Motorsport Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 14 24:07.1937 12 1:40.9834
13 78 Justin Levis (NSW) Cue Lotus Elise 1800 13 22:42.7365 4 1:42.0885
14 36 Peter Fountas (VIC) Buzza Auto Electrics Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 13 22:45.6348 5 1:43.3288
15 40 Russell Kempnich (QLD) Sedgman Limited Porsche GT3 3600 13 22:53.7318 2 1:43.6708
DNF 18 Max Twigg (VIC) Twigg Waste Management Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 10 17:04.8513 3 1:37.5469
DNF 90 Sven Burchartz (VIC) Macpherson & Kelley Lawyers Porsche GT3 3600 9 14:58.5883 5 1:37.5409
DNF 38 David Wall (NSW) "R.D.S, Wall Racing " Porsche GT3 RSR 3600 4 7:15.6339 2 1:35.5096*
DNF 23 Paul Tresidder (NSW) Pelorus Property Group Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 3 5:37.6766 2 1:43.2839
Race 3
1 4 Allan Simonsen (VIC) www.consolidatedchem.com.au Ferrari 360 GT 3586 17 27:23.3449 9 1:35.0252*
2 38 David Wall (NSW) "R.D.S, Wall Racing " Porsche GT3 RSR 3600 17 27:23.7812 10 1:35.0964
3 54 Bryce Washington (SA) ADRAD Radiator Experts Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 17 27:52.6675 6 1:37.4878
4 5 Peter Hackett (VIC) Lamborghini Australia Lamborghini Diablo 6000 17 27:53.3147 11 1:37.6436
5 44 Bill Pye (NSW) Autohaus Hamilton Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 17 28:13.4519 4 1:37.2613
6 18 Max Twigg (VIC) Twigg Waste Management Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 17 28:16.4515 8 1:37.5324
7 19 Damien Flack (QLD) "Nexus Cleaning, Roock" Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 17 28:18.5621 7 1:38.9069
8 32 Blake Lynn (NSW) Lynns Building Materials Porsche GT3 3600 17 28:44.3546 4 1:39.5734
9 23 Paul Tresidder (NSW) Pelorus Property Group Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 17 28:55.7383 7 1:40.6968
10 45 Paul Bolinowsky (NSW) Bolin Racing Porsche GT3 3600 17 28:56.0944 7 1:40.5572
11 31 Jon Trende (VIC) WTF Motorsport Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 16 27:26.4645 9 1:40.7512
12 99 Peter Lucas (NSW) Urban Arrangements Lotus Elise 1998 16 27:45.7678 5 1:38.9881
13 78 Justin Levis (NSW) Cue Lotus Elise 1800 16 27:56.3727 6 1:43.5319
14 36 Peter Fountas (VIC) Buzza Auto Electrics Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 16 28:18.2789 7 1:42.4133
15 40 Russell Kempnich (QLD) Sedgman Limited Porsche GT3 3600 16 28:21.0673 15 1:44.5236
DNF 51 Ross Lilley (VIC) Koala Furniture Porsche GT3 Cup Car 3600 13 22:57.7619 10 1:41.5788
DNF 46 Anthony Skinner (NSW) Travelplan Porsche GT3 3600 12 20:31.5358 10 1:39.9980
DNF 88 John Teulan (QLD) "Industry Central, Stahlwille" Ferrari 430 4300 11 18:14.2331 2 1:37.6443
2007 Australian GT Championship Points standing (After 1 of 8 rounds)
1.Allan Simonsen (Ferrari 360 GT) 117pts
2.Bryce Washington (Porsche GT3 Cup Car) 88pts
3.Bill Pye (Porsche GT3 Cup Car) 69pts
4.David Wall (Porsche GT3 RSR) 64pts
5.Damien Flack (Porsche GT3 Cup Car) 61pts
Visit the Championship website at www.gtchampionship.com.au