Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Australia debutant Harri Jones is the first pole-sitter of the 2019 season, edging out returning racer Max Vidau for the sessions’ top time.
Jones was among the front-runners throughout the 20-minute session and posted his best time on his 18th qualifying lap with a time of 0:52.6959, finishing the session just 0:00.0612 ahead of Vidau, who enters his second season in the series.
Behind Vidau in the session was fellow returning GT3 Cup Challenge driver Christian Pancione from debutants Ryan Suhle and Aaron Love.
Sam Shahin was impressive in his first time at Symmons Plains Raceway, holding the top outright position in qualifying during the final stages of the session, ultimately placing sixth outright and topping the TAG Heuer Pro-Am class. Sergio Pires was the next best Pro-Am driver from Ross McGregor, Brett Boulton and Marcel Zalloua.
Meanwhile Emanuel Palyaris will start race one from the head of the Class B field ahead of David Greig, Andrew Goldie, Jonathan Gliksten, Nathan Murray and Tony Martin.
The grid is now set for the opening Jim Richards Endurance Trophy race of the season, to be held today at 12:25pm. Race two will then be held at 3:25pm later in the day ahead of Sunday’s race three.
All three races of the opening round of the 2019 Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Australia season can be viewed live on both Fox Sports 506 and streaming service Kayo.
Race Schedule
Saturday April 06, 2019
9:20am Qualifying (20 minutes)
12:25pm Race 1 (38 laps)
3:25pm Race 2 (28 Laps)
Sunday April 07, 2019
12:50pm Race 3 (28 laps)
Television and Streaming Schedule (local time)
Channel: Fox Sports 506 & Kayo
Qualifying – 9:20am, Saturday April 06
Race 1 – 12:25pm, Saturday April 06
Race 2 – 3:25pm, Saturday April 06
Race 3 – 12:50pm, Sunday April 07
Qualifying times
| Position | Car | Driver | Class | Fastest lap | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Harri Jones | Pro | 0:52.6959 | |
| 2 | 77 | Max Vidau | Pro | 0:52.7571 | 0:00.0612 |
| 3 | 76 | Christian Pancione | Pro | 0:52.8884 | 0:00.1925 |
| 4 | 7 | Ryan Suhle | Pro | 0:52.9581 | 0:00.2622 |
| 5 | 78 | Aaron Love | Pro | 0:53.0513 | 0:00.3554 |
| 6 | 13 | Sam Shahin | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 0:53.3283 | 0:00.6324 |
| 7 | 777 | Cameron Crick | Pro | 0:53.8268 | 0:01.1309 |
| 8 | 55 | Sergio Pires | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 0:54.1407 | 0:01.4448 |
| 9 | 26 | Tom Taplin | Pro | 0:54.1710 | 0:01.4751 |
| 10 | 99 | Ross McGregor | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 0:54.2583 | 0:01.5624 |
| 11 | 84 | Brett Boulton | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 0:54.3601 | 0:01.6642 |
| 12 | 17 | Marcel Zalloua | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 0:54.6206 | 0:01.9247 |
| 13 | 131 | Graham Williams | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 0:54.6864 | 0:01.9905 |
| 14 | 29 | Rob Woods | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 0:55.0645 | 0:02.3686 |
| 15 | 10 | Michael Loccisano | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 0:55.0671 | 0:02.3712 |
| 16 | 21 | Shane Barwood | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 0:55.0906 | 0:02.3947 |
| 17 | 91 | Emanuel Palyaris | Class B | 0:55.2567 | 0:02.5608 |
| 18 | 87 | David Greig | Class B | 0:55.6737 | 0:02.9778 |
| 19 | 22 | Andrew Goldie | Class B | 0:56.2362 | 0:03.5403 |
| 20 | 3 | Jonathan Gliksten | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 0:56.5021 | 0:03.8062 |
| 21 | 5 | Nathan Murray | Class B | 0:56.7906 | 0:04.0947 |
| 22 | 9 | Tony Martin | Class B | 0:57.2294 | 0:04.5335 |
