Michelin Junior Max Vidau has had the perfect start to his 2019 Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Australia campaign with two race wins from the first two races of 2019 at Symmons Plains Raceway, while Sam Shahin continued his Friday form with a clean sweep of Saturday race wins in the TAG Heuer Pro-Am class.
Vidau started the day with an impressive race one performance – following a red flag and race restart. The first attempt of a race start saw Cameron Crick fail to move from the start line. Tom Taplin narrowly missed the stationary #777 Porsche though Brett Boulton wasn’t so lucky, making heavy contact with Crick. While both drivers were unscathed, their Porsches received substantial damage and were unable to continue.
Vidau led pole-sitter Harri Jones into the opening corner on the restart then managed to pull away to ultimately claim a three-second victory from Jones in the shortened 22-lap race to take an early lead in the Jim Richards Endurance Trophy. Ryan Suhle placed third from Aaron Love and Christian Pancione.
Sam Shahin continued to be the class of the TAG Heuer Pro-Am field, taking sixth outright and first in class in race one, finishing 25 seconds ahead of his closest class rival Sergio Pires, with Ross McGregor third in class in his 30th round start.
Andrew Goldie capitalised on a late-race accident from Emanuel Palyaris to claim the Class B race win from David Greig and Tony Martin.
Vidau again dominated in race two, leading from the start and effectively navigating the lapped traffic to take a five-second victory from Jones and Suhle.
“It’s the perfect way to start the season – two race wins here in Tasmania. I hoped for a strong start to the season and it’s great to start this way having never seen this place before,” said Vidau.
“I struggled in practice and I couldn’t get into a rhythm with all the traffic, but our race pace was great and I have managed to navigate the traffic really well. Obviously in practice the new guys were pretty quick but it’s a different story in racing, which is something I worked out pretty quickly last year. We’re working hard and winning races so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Much like Vidau’s impressive form at the front, fellow South Australian Shahin continued at the head of TAG Heuer Pro-Am. Once again, Shahin was racing among the tail end of the Pro field and placed sixth outright ahead of Crick and Boulton, who both came from the rear of the field after their race one start-line accident to place seventh and eighth, respectively, in race two.
“I’m just over the moon. GT3 Cup Challenge is just a wonderful category and has always produced great close racing. There’s pure class and talent throughout the field and I’m thrilled to be in the company of such great racers with great futures in front of them,” said Shahin.
“I love Tasmania now. This is my first time at Symmons Plains; it’s a technical little track with absolutely no room for even the smallest error. It’s been a great, sunny, beautiful Tasmanian weekend so far and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
While Goldie was the best of Class B in race one, a post-race two penalty for being underweight handed David Greig the class win in race two from Emanuel Palyaris, Tony Martin and Nathan Murray.
Saturday’s competition saw Matt Kingsley’s nine-year-old race lap record fall to dual race winner Vidau with the South Australian’s best race two lap of 0:53.0270secs.
One race remains for the opening Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Australia round of the season, to be held at 12:50pm on Sunday, which can be viewed live on both Fox Sports 506 and streaming service Kayo.
Race Schedule
Sunday April 07, 2019
12:50pm Race 3 (28 laps)
Television and Streaming Schedule (local time)
Channel: Fox Sports 506 & Kayo
Race 3 – 12:50pm, Sunday April 07
Results: Race 1
| Position | Car | Driver | Class | Laps | Race time | Fastest lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 77 | Max Vidau | Pro | 22 | 19:44.6914 | 0:53.2327* |
| 2 | 12 | Harri Jones | Pro | 22 | 19:47.7717 | 0:53.2906 |
| 3 | 7 | Ryan Suhle | Pro | 22 | 19:49.3324 | 0:53.4979 |
| 4 | 78 | Aaron Love | Pro | 22 | 19:53.4927 | 0:53.6118 |
| 5 | 76 | Christian Pancione | Pro | 22 | 19:53.7714 | 0:53.4629 |
| 6 | 13 | Sam Shahin | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 22 | 19:58.1604 | 0:53.5286 |
| 7 | 26 | Tom Taplin | Pro | 22 | 20:10.4475 | 0:54.1001 |
| 8 | 55 | Sergio Pires | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 22 | 20:23.7373 | 0:54.7113 |
| 9 | 99 | Ross McGregor | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 22 | 20:27.9578 | 0:54.8081 |
| 10 | 131 | Graham Williams | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 22 | 20:41.6394 | 0:55.0479 |
| 11 | 10 | Michael Loccisano | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 21 | 19:46.4614 | 0:55.0540 |
| 12 | 29 | Rob Woods | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 21 | 19:51.7661 | 0:55.2479 |
| 13 | 22 | Andrew Goldie | Class B | 21 | 20:01.6095 | 0:55.9683 |
| 14 | 17 | Marcel Zalloua | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 21 | 20:02.4358 | 0:54.8765 |
| 15 | 87 | David Greig | Class B | 21 | 20:07.6894 | 0:55.8221 |
| 16 | 21 | Shane Barwood | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 21 | 20:26.6543 | 0:55.0599 |
| 17 | 3 | Jonathan Gliksten | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 21 | 20:29.7609 | 0:56.4450 |
| 18 | 9 | Tony Martin | Class B | 21 | 20:38.6629 | 0:56.7159 |
| 19 | 5 | Nathan Murray | Class B | 20 | 20:15.5556 | 0:57.6368 |
| DNF | 91 | Emanuel Palyaris | Class B | 18 | 16:57.4155 | 0:54.8465 |
| DNF | 777 | Cameron Crick | Pro | |||
| DNF | 84 | Brett Boulton | TAG Heuer Pro-Am |
Results: Race 2
| Position | Car | Driver | Class | Laps | Race time | Fastest lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 77 | Max Vidau | Pro | 28 | 25:02.5349 | 0:53.0270* |
| 2 | 12 | Harri Jones | Pro | 28 | 25:07.7437 | 0:53.1891 |
| 3 | 7 | Ryan Suhle | Pro | 28 | 25:10.4482 | 0:53.1731 |
| 4 | 78 | Aaron Love | Pro | 28 | 25:11.7351 | 0:53.2846 |
| 5 | 26 | Tom Taplin | Pro | 28 | 25:19.1658 | 0:53.4722 |
| 6 | 13 | Sam Shahin | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 28 | 25:22.9470 | 0:53.4436 |
| 7 | 777 | Cameron Crick | Pro | 28 | 25:41.5986 | 0:53.6761 |
| 8 | 84 | Brett Boulton | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 28 | 25:46.0971 | 0:54.0080 |
| 9 | 55 | Sergio Pires | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 28 | 25:46.8630 | 0:54.2770 |
| 10 | 99 | Ross McGregor | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 27 | 25:04.8999 | 0:54.3322 |
| 11 | 17 | Marcel Zalloua | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 27 | 25:07.2407 | 0:54.6454 |
| 12 | 10 | Michael Loccisano | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 27 | 25:07.4165 | 0:54.8125 |
| 13 | 131 | Graham Williams | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 27 | 25:09.1814 | 0:54.9065 |
| 14 | 76 | Christian Pancione | Pro | 27 | 25:15.7461 | 0:53.3327 |
| 15 | 21 | Shane Barwood | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 27 | 25:17.2487 | 0:55.0389 |
| 16 | 29 | Rob Woods | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 27 | 25:20.5029 | 0:55.0258 |
| 17 | 87 | David Greig | Class B | 27 | 25:31.4176 | 0:55.5018 |
| 18 | 91 | Emanuel Palyaris | Class B | 27 | 25:56.7016 | 0:55.4668 |
| 19 | 3 | Jonathan Gliksten | TAG Heuer Pro-Am | 26 | 25:14.8372 | 0:56.4201 |
| 20 | 5 | Nathan Murray | Class B | 26 | 25:15.5700 | 0:56.6076 |
| 21 | 9 | Tony Martin | Class B | 26 | 25:16.6599 | 0:56.6604 |
| EXC | 22 | Andrew Goldie | Class B | 27 | 25:18.9860 | 0:55.4373 |
