Australian GT: Good solid weekend in Sydney for Equity-One

Melbourne Performance Centre Press Release

Good solid weekend in Sydney for Equity-One

Equity-One Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3
Rnd#4, Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli
Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW (12-14 July)

After a consistent run during round four of the Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli at Sydney Motorsport Park, Equity-One Motorsport’s Dean Koutsoumidis and Andrew McInnes have maintained their position inside the top six in the championship, but despite continuing to amass points, both drivers feel they’re looking for a little bit more..

“The introduction of the new 2013-specification cars really stepped things up, and with a group of professional drivers coming and going in different teams during the season, it has stretched the advantage the leaders have over our 2011-spec Audi R8,” Dean Koutsoumidis explained.

“What that means is that the chasm between the 2013-spec cars and our slightly older model means that we’re in a bit of a battle between ourselves, so we’re really just racing the clock. It’s great being in the mix though, and when they struggle with grip or mechanical issues, we’re all over them like a cheap suit, but we’d really like someone to race with..

“There’s a couple of fast Trophy Class drivers coming through now, which is the class we won the Championship with last year, and a few Porsches that will appear at the end of the year too after the new car comes in for Carrera Cup, so for next season we’re sure to have our hands full..”

In Sydney the Equity-One team was making its Australian GT Championship debut with the Melbourne Performance Centre [MPC] team too, which added another new dimension to the equation, but both drivers admitted that went off without a hitch.

“We’ve been with the Minda Motorsport team for a while, so we all got used to each other, but with a new team, you’re never sure how you’re going to fit into the dynamic, but it worked really well,” Andrew McInnes confirmed.

“We had a great weekend in the end,” Dean added. “Our first weekend with MPC worked perfectly, we enjoyed being a part of the team and they went out of their way to make us feel welcome, which was much appreciated.”

On track the performance of the Equity-One Audi R8 LMS continued unabated, falling into a rhythm as it had done all season long, immediately off the tail of the current-spec cars.

McInnes qualified the car, dropping into the high 30s, before stepping in for the opening leg of the first one-hour race.

A strong start saw him lock in under the rear wing of the ‘sister’ MPC Audi R8 of Rod Salmon, the two running closely for the opening stanza of the race before Salmon pulled away slightly ahead of the compulsory pit stops.

McInnes hit the pits in fifth place at the mid-point of the race to hand over to Koutsoumidis, the gorgeous white and burgundy R8 rejoining in eighth place. Using the knowledge that led him to a race victory at Sydney three weeks prior during the NSW State Series, Dean put his head down and charged, crossing the line in sixth place.

For race two he was back behind the wheel to start the second one-hour race, holding down seventh place early, before moving to fifth ahead of the compulsory pit stop.

From there McInnes jumped back behind the wheel, returning to the race in eighth place, but despite a string of competitive laps was unable to improve position before the flag.

“As it has done all year, the car ran faultlessly, and we gained more valuable championship points,” he said. “Now it’s on to Queensland Raceway, where we’ll have a different event format with three 40-minute races. That could mix things up a bit, with varying strategies between the two-driver teams.”

Queensland Raceway signals the penultimate round of the championship in just under three weeks time (August 2-4), although ahead of that, Dean will compete in the Victorian State Series Championship at Sandown Motor Raceway this coming weekend (July 20-21).

Rnd#4 2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli
Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW - Qualifying (13 July)
01. 36. Jack Le Brocq - Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:27.4848
02. 6. Nathan Antunes - Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra [CHAMP] - 1:27.5421
03. 88. John Bowe - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:28.1007
04. 7. Tony Quinn - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:28.4030
05. 1. Klark Quinn - Porsche GT3-R [CHAMP] - 1:28.6388
07. 71. Andrew McInnes - Audi R8 LMS GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:30.3953

Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW - Race 1 (13 July)
01. 36. Jack Le Brocq - Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 [CHAMP] - 39-laps
02. 1. Klark Quinn - Porsche GT3-R [CHAMP]
03. 6. Rod Salmon/Nathan Antunes - Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra [CHAMP]
04. 88. Peter Edwards/John Bowe- Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [CHAMP]
05. 7. Tony Quinn - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 [CHAMP]
06. 71. Koutsoumidis/McInnes - Audi R8 LMS GT3 [CHAMP]

Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW - Race 2 (14 July)
01. 36. Jack Le Brocq - Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 [CHAMP] - 39-laps
02. 1. Klark Quinn - Porsche GT3-R [CHAMP]
03. 88. Peter Edwards/John Bowe- Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [CHAMP]
04. 7. Tony Quinn - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 [CHAMP]
05. 23. Roger Lago - Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 GT3 [CHAMP]
08. 71. Koutsoumidis/McInnes - Audi R8 LMS GT3 [CHAMP]

2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli
Championship points (after four rounds of six)

GT Championship
1. Klark Quinn (284 points), 2. Jack Le Brocq (220), 3. Tony Quinn (202), 4. Edwards/Bowe (190), 5. Roger Lago (164), 6.Koutsoumidis/McInnes (154), 7. Craig Baird (133), 8. Justin McMillan (129), 9. Rod Salmon (128), 10. Jim Manolios (70), 11. Christian Klien (70), 12. Nathan Antunes (63), 13. Andrew Taplin (59), 14. Van Gisbergen/Kingsley (54), 15. Simonsen/Salo (50), 16. Steven Richards (46), 17. James Winslow (42), 18. Murphy/Capelli (37), 19. Middleton/O’Young (30), 20. Ross Lilley (28), 21. Slade/Holdsworth/Hackett (26), 22. Mok Weng Sun/Griffin (25), 23. Lowndes/Luff (21), 24. Roloff/Schneider/Jaeger (19), 25. Russell/Kox (16)

Keep track of the Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli via the AGT website - www.australiangt.com.au and via Facebook; AustralianGT

The fourth round of the Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli will be televised on SBS Speedweek on Sunday, August 4 from 2:00pm AEST (check local guides for confirmation).

2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli - calendar
Rnd#1, 8-10 February - Bathurst 12-Hour, NSW
Rnd#2, 28 Feb - 3 March - Clipsal, Adelaide, SA
Rnd#3, 24-26 May - Phillip Island, Victoria
Rnd#4, 12-14 July - Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW
Rnd#5, 2-4 August - Queensland Raceway, Ipswich, QLD
Rnd#6, 8-10 November - Highland Motorsport Park, NZ

Photo credit: Melbourne Performance Centre