Mostert Drives Audi to First-Ever Pole Position

Chaz Mostert gave Audi the first-ever pole position in Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS at Phillip Island.

Mostert set a 1:28.184 lap time in the early running at the wheel of the No. 24 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo he shares with co-driver Tony Bates, narrowly edging out Triple Eight in the combined qualifying times which set the grid for Race 1.

Courtesy of Jamie Whincup, the Triple Eight Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo fell 0.18 seconds short of pole at the checkered flag, with much of the field only completing a single run in Qualifying 2.

Supercars heavyweights filled the top positions with Garth Tander putting the Audi he shares with Yasser Shahin in third.

Tander had been battling for pole in the No. 777 Audi but was pipped by Whincup in the Triple Eight car.

Grove Motorsport’s No. 4 Porsche 911 GT3 R of Brenton and Stephen Grove picked up a fourth-place result, while the older-generation Audi R8 LMS ultra of Brad Schumacher completed the top-five.

Schumacher was the best of the Trophy class competitors in both sessions after also topping Qualifying 1 overall.

Trophy class runners Gary Higgon and Paul Stokell will start from sixth in their Audi ahead of another R8 driven by Matt Stoupas in seventh.

AMAC Motorsport’s Lamborghini Huracan GT3 was eighth, followed by the Hobson Motorsport Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 and Tony Quinn’s Aston Martin, which will start 10th.

The day’s running also saw a pair of practice sessions that were topped respectively by Tander and Whincup.

Race 1 is scheduled to take place on Saturday at 12:20 p.m. local time (Friday, 8:20 p.m. ET).

RESULTS: Qualifying