The sandy dunes of Zandvoort provided a naturally hilly circuit for the GT3 drivers to play on this week. A mix of cornering challenges meant that each car could excel at various points across the track. Therefore, we saw five different manufacturers represented across the field.
Ross Rizzo had taken the first 3 wins so far – could he take a 4th?
Qually:
Tim Hamilton posted the first competitive qualifying time during the session in his Lamborghini. Jason Brooks in the McLaren took a few laps to bank a strong time but made it count with a 1:46.5. Ross Rizzo, in the same car, pushed it harder and recorded a 1:45.9. Shane Gilfeather was clearly impressed, “That’s ridiculous!” In the dying seconds, Francarlo Rizzo placed his Nissan GTR on the front row.
Race:
After a few ‘incidents’ on a formation lap, the race was finally underway and was remained rather clean. Nathan Tregarthen and Tim had first lap loops, but kept it off the wall and within sight of the pack. The entire field was lucky to avoid Shane’s spinning Porsche. Uncharacteristically, Jason spent a lot of time at the rear of the pack – who would challenge the Rizzo boys now? Nevertheless, two heroes emerged in the form of Allan Marks in his Ferrari and Chris Herringe to lead the best of the rest with smart driving through the pack. A great battle was forged between Allan and Tim, the latter having to force the thread through the needle. Nathan watched closely behind, cautiously – but smart. Allan out-braked himself and shot through the chicane only to make contact/accidental payback to Tim (both cars still race-able).
Nathan was the first to pit at 12 laps in just as Shane was about to join the battle. Allan followed him in too but with a little bit of damage to fix. The remainder of the field chose lap 15 to get their business done in pit lane. Strategies emerged as a split between either two or three stoppers. By the time all had played out; Allan, Jason and Shane were all stuck together – forced to race the ol’ fashioned way on the circuit. Meanwhile up front, Ross answered our first question – yes, he made it win number 4 and rather convincingly. Francarlo and Tim ensured that all the podium champagne would be consumed up in the Queensland store (for this night at least).
Race Result:
Finish |
Start |
Gain/Loss |
Driver |
Car |
Race time |
Fastest lap |
Qual. time |
1 |
1 |
- |
Ross Rizzo |
McLaren MP4-12C |
82:22.264 |
1:45.968 |
1:45.983 |
2 |
2 |
- |
Francarlo Rizzo |
Nissan GT-R GT3 |
+1:29.109 |
1:46.551 |
1:46.058 |
3 |
4 |
+1 |
Tim Hamilton |
Lamborghini Gallardo |
+1:30.136 |
1:47.281 |
1:46.899 |
4 |
7 |
+3 |
Nathan Tregarthan |
Porsche 997 CupR |
+1 lap |
1:47.580 |
1:48.281 |
5 |
5 |
- |
Shane Gilfeather |
Porsche 997 CupR |
+1 lap |
1:46.966 |
1:48.281 |
6 |
6 |
- |
Allan Marks |
Ferrari 458 Italia |
+2 laps |
1:49.005 |
1:48.371 |
7 |
3 |
-4 |
Jason Brooks |
McLaren MP4-12C |
+2 laps |
1:46.673 |
1:46.579 |
8 |
8 |
- |
Chris Herringe |
McLaren MP4-12C |
+3 laps |
1:50.236 |
1:50.403 |
Championship Table:
2014 GT3 League | |||||||||||||||||
Drivers | State | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Race 4 | Race 5 | Race 6 | Race 7 | Race 8 | Race 9 | Race 10 | Race 11 | Race 12 | Total Points | Current Place | ||
Ross Rizzo | QLD | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 80 | 1st | ||||||||||
Francarlo Rizzo | QLD | 15 | 17 | 15 | 17 | 64 | 2nd | ||||||||||
Jason Brooks | NSW | 17 | 13 | 17 | 10 | 57 | 3rd | ||||||||||
Tim Hamilton | QLD | 7 | 15 | 13 | 15 | 50 | 4th | ||||||||||
Nathan Tregarthan | NSW | 3 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 36 | 5th | ||||||||||
Allan Marks | NSW | 8 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 35 | 6th | ||||||||||
Shane Van Gilfeather | NSW | 0 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 35 | 7th | ||||||||||
Nikolai Valge | NSW | 10 | 11 | 12 | 0 | 33 | 8th | ||||||||||
Chris Herringe | QLD | 12 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 27 | 9th | ||||||||||
Pat O'Reilly | NSW | 9 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 25 | 10th | ||||||||||
Iain Salteri | QLD | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 11th | ||||||||||
Ryan Healy | QLD | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 12th | ||||||||||
Iain McIntosh | QLD | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 13th | ||||||||||
Chris Paras | NSW | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14th | ||||||||||
Rob Cooper | QLD | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 15th | ||||||||||
Justin Wilson | NSW | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 16th | ||||||||||
Luke Bannano | NSW | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 17th | ||||||||||
Evan Golbach | NSW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 18th | ||||||||||
Todd Varacalli | QLD | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19th |
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