A sensational Phillip Island clean sweep has handed young gun Cooper Murray victory in round three of the Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Australia series, while Ben Stack and Christian Pancione claimed their maiden class round wins.
Murray’s faultless weekend began with pole position and a dominant 10-second race one win on Saturday before Murray led race two from its outset, managing the gap to second placed Simon Fallon and third placed Jimmy Vernon to the finish.
Murray’s race three victory did not come as easily as his earlier two wins; Fallon gained the lead from the start and retained the front position until lap six, when Murray moved into first place, soon followed by Max Vidau into second, before ultimately claiming the win from Vidau and Fallon.
“I really didn’t expect to come away with three race wins here at Phillip Island. I knew that Max and Simon would be really quick as they have had a few test days here, which makes it pretty satisfying to get the results we did,” said Murray.
As the season reaches its halfway mark, Murray holds a 47-point lead in the overall standings and a 60-point margin ahead of Fallon in the Pro standings.
“From here we’ll make sure we take no risks, get the points and hopefully take the championship at the end of the year,” added Murray.
The Pro-Am class featured Sunday’s best on-track battles between the class leaders Ben Stack, Danny Stutterd and Marcel Zalloua. After Zalloua claimed Saturday’s race one Pro-Am win, Stutterd was the best of the trio in race two before Stack claims Pro-Am honours in race three, with Stutterd and Stack battling head-to-head throughout Sunday’s two races.
The race three class win handed Stack his first-ever GT3 Cup Challenge class round victory.
“This is unreal and really unexpected. It was a really tough weekend and Danny and Marcel were putting the pressure on the whole time. I just tried to stay consistent and do what I was told. I’m very happy,” said Stack.
“Marcel came out of nowhere yesterday and found some pace later in the weekend and Danny was always there, and these guys make their cars incredibly wide when you try to get past them. They certainly made me work for it.”
Second for the round extended Stutterd’s Pro-Am points lead to 104 points over Brett Boulton, with Stack closing his margin to second place to just seven points.
Former kart racer Christian Pancione was the class of the Class B field on Sunday at Phillip Island in just his third car racing event.
After placing third in class in Saturday’s race one, Pancione claim class victory in Sunday’s two races. While he finished equal on points with David Greig, his race three win handed him his maiden class round win. West Australian Andrew Goldie capped a strong weekend with third in Class B for the round.
Pancione departs Phillip Island with a 103-point Class B lead from Phil Morriss, with round one winner Richard Bloomfield placed third in class.
Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Australia will return for round four at Queensland Raceway on July 27-29, 2018.
Results: Race 2
Position | Car | Driver | Class | Laps | Race time | Fastest Lap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 36 | Cooper Murray | Pro | 9 | 16:14.6037 | 1:32.0034 |
2 | 96 | Simon Fallon | Pro | 9 | 16:17.1707 | 1:32.1184 |
3 | 7 | Jimmy Vernon | Pro | 9 | 16:25.7618 | 1:32.7692 |
4 | 23 | Daniel Stutterd | Pro-Am | 9 | 16:32.7875 | 1:33.9878 |
5 | 65 | Ben Stack | Pro-Am | 9 | 16:33.0456 | 1:34.0489 |
6 | 17 | Marcel Zalloua | Pro-Am | 9 | 16:33.4805 | 1:34.5589 |
7 | 84 | Brett Boulton | Pro-Am | 9 | 16:36.9123 | 1:34.6205 |
8 | 38 | Chelsea Angelo | Pro | 9 | 16:37.0153 | 1:34.3211 |
9 | 77 | Max Vidau | Pro | 9 | 16:37.1137 | 1:32.3029 |
10 | 27 | Sam Fillmore | Pro-Am | 9 | 16:38.2135 | 1:34.4905 |
11 | 21 | Shane Barwood | Pro-Am | 9 | 16:41.4900 | 1:34.7906 |
12 | 76 | Christian Pancione | Class B | 9 | 16:44.6811 | 1:35.0599 |
13 | 10 | Michael Loccisano | Pro-Am | 9 | 16:55.1420 | 1:36.8044 |
14 | 87 | David Greig | Class B | 9 | 16:56.0571 | 1:36.6269 |
15 | 131 | Graham Williams | Pro-Am | 9 | 16:56.9149 | 1:36.6924 |
16 | 29 | Rob Woods | Pro-Am | 9 | 17:01.3815 | 1:37.4191 |
17 | 73 | Michael Hovey | Pro-Am | 9 | 17:01.7248 | 1:37.2161 |
18 | 22 | Andrew Goldie | Class B | 9 | 17:02.2575 | 1:37.3648 |
19 | 88 | Phil Morriss | Class B | 9 | 17:02.4110 | 1:37.0148 |
20 | 15 | Vince Misuraca | Class B | 9 | 17:02.9191 | 1:37.0413 |
21 | 117 | Sergio Pires | Class B | 9 | 17:04.0479 | 1:37.6029 |
22 | 57 | Richard Bloomfield | Class B | 9 | 17:04.1666 | 1:37.3263 |
23 | 9 | Tony Martin | Class B | 9 | 17:14.2899 | 1:38.6678 |
DNF | 230 | Luis Leeds | Pro | |||
DNF | 99 | Ross McGregor | Pro-Am |
Results: Race 3
Position | Car | Driver | Class | Laps | Race time | Fastest Lap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 36 | Cooper Murray | Pro | 12 | 18:43.6219 | 1:32.4566 |
2 | 77 | Max Vidau | Pro | 12 | 18:44.2253 | 1:32.3952 |
3 | 96 | Simon Fallon | Pro | 12 | 18:49.7427 | 1:33.1176 |
4 | 7 | Jimmy Vernon | Pro | 12 | 18:54.2446 | 1:32.8495 |
5 | 38 | Chelsea Angelo | Pro | 12 | 19:18.5959 | 1:33.4861 |
6 | 65 | Ben Stack | Pro-Am | 12 | 19:18.9500 | 1:34.6360 |
7 | 23 | Daniel Stutterd | Pro-Am | 12 | 19:19.2316 | 1:35.0156 |
8 | 17 | Marcel Zalloua | Pro-Am | 12 | 19:19.7302 | 1:35.0759 |
9 | 76 | Christian Pancione | Class B | 12 | 19:28.9878 | 1:35.7793 |
10 | 84 | Brett Boulton | Pro-Am | 12 | 19:32.5116 | 1:35.0887 |
11 | 21 | Shane Barwood | Pro-Am | 12 | 19:33.1690 | 1:35.9832 |
12 | 73 | Michael Hovey | Pro-Am | 12 | 19:37.2994 | 1:35.9269 |
13 | 131 | Graham Williams | Pro-Am | 12 | 19:39.2068 | 1:36.6283 |
14 | 87 | David Greig | Class B | 12 | 19:45.4874 | 1:36.8791 |
15 | 22 | Andrew Goldie | Class B | 12 | 19:46.2437 | 1:37.1011 |
16 | 10 | Michael Loccisano | Pro-Am | 12 | 19:46.7963 | 1:36.6307 |
17 | 57 | Richard Bloomfield | Class B | 12 | 19:51.9732 | 1:37.5812 |
18 | 29 | Rob Woods | Pro-Am | 12 | 19:52.2830 | 1:37.3645 |
19 | 99 | Ross McGregor | Pro-Am | 12 | 19:52.4229 | 1:37.4625 |
20 | 117 | Sergio Pires | Class B | 12 | 19:54.5274 | 1:37.2959 |
21 | 88 | Phil Morriss | Class B | 12 | 19:54.8954 | 1:36.9074 |
22 | 27 | Sam Fillmore | Pro-Am | 12 | 19:58.0723 | 1:35.3588 |
23 | 15 | Vince Misuraca | Class B | 11 | 19:17.1719 | 1:37.1771 |
24 | 9 | Tony Martin | Class B | 11 | 20:01.1136 | 1:39.4302 |