Over eight manufactures will be represented next weekend as the entry list for round four of the Vodka O Australian GT Championship was confirmed earlier today, with the exotic sports cars featuring as a key support to the Sucrogen Townsville 400 V8 Supercar event.
Mercedes Benz, Aston Martin, Mosler, Lamborghini, Audi and Porsche will all be represented as the Championship makes its debut on the tight and twisty Reid Park Circuit and Audi R8 driver and Championship contender Mark Eddy can’t wait to get there.
“The GT’s have never been to the Townsville event, but on TV it always looks like a great place, with a great atmosphere and from what I understand the locals really get behind it,” he said.
“From a racing perspective, no one has any data advantages, so the first few sessions should be interesting to see who gets on top of it early.”
“I love street circuits, and I think the Audi’s aero package will suit the track, so I’m hoping for a strong result at the end of the weekend.”
Current Championship leader Klark Quinn holds a slender lead over Eddy with only nine points separating the Mosler driver from the Audi driver but said his car had proved itself on street circuits before and he was looking forward to a close battle.
“The VIP Petfood’s GT3 Mosler was the car to beat when we raced at the Clipsal 500 which is one of the toughest street circuits on the planet, so I know the car has what it takes to win in that kind of environment,” he said.
“We had a tough round at Eastern Creek a few weeks ago, so we’re going to have to be right on our game if we want to retain the Championship lead.”
Fourteen cars will line up for first practice at round four of the series next weekend, including the sleek new Mercedes Benz AMG SLS driven by Peter “Hollywood” Hackett from Erebus Racing.
“This will be the biggest event this car has raced in front of since we brought it into the country a little while ago, and I can’t wait to see the reaction from the people when they see it,” he said.
“It not only looks amazing, but it sound’s unbelievable too, and should be something to behold on a street circuit.”
“Fans will be able to get a really good look at the car if they come to Riverway on Wednesday afternoon as I’ll have it on display along with the Vodka O GT3 Porsche of Dean Grant, and the Audi R8 LMS of Mark Eddy.”
Round four of the Championship also sees former racer and series Champion Paul Stokell as the driver standards advisor.
“I’m more used to being in the race rather than watching it from the control tower, but with regular DSA Andrew Jones racing in the Fujitsu Series I was happy to fill in when the call came,” he said.
“It’s a pretty challenging circuit, but I’m sure the guys will have a ball and respect each other over the two 30 minute races.”
The Vodka O Australian GT Championship will kick off racing proceedings with two practise sessions and a qualifying session Friday followed by a 30 minute race on Saturday at 10.20am and then a second 30 minute race at 10.35am on Sunday.
The Vodka O Australian GT Championship is a national motor racing series pitting some of the world’s most exotic and exciting race cars against each other in a mix of sprint and endurance race formats on some of Australia’s most challenging circuits including Mt Panorama Bathurst, and the Adelaide Parklands street circuit for the Clipsal 500.
