Ferrari Duo Mostert, Talbot Clinch Title in Bathurst Finale

Arise Racing GT Ferrari pair Chaz Mostert and Liam Talbot wrapped up the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS Pro-Am drivers’ title with two more podiums in last weekend’s Bathurst season finale.

Second place in the opening race on Saturday and then third in Sunday’s finale was enough for Mostert and Talbot to clinch the top prize in their Ferrari 296 GT3, despite nearest title rivals Brad Schumacher and Will Brown winning the first encounter.

Talbot had initially led the opener from pole but dropped back during the pitstop phase due to the No. 1 Arise squad’s success penalty, which promoted Renee Gracie’s Melbourne Performance Centre-run Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II into the lead before she was passed by both Brown’s MPC Audi and Mostert.

Brown was able to hang on to a third win of the season for himself and Schumacher by a little under four seconds, keeping the title battle alive until the final race.

Brendon Leitch and Tim Miles took the final podium spot in another of the MPC Audis as Gracie slumped to an eventual eighth in the car she shared with Paul Stokell.

Mostert had been due to start Sunday’s race from pole, but instead was forced to start from the rear after being excluded from qualifying for “boost irregularities”.

But the Supercars ace was already up to sixth by the time of the mandatory stops, his progressed briefly halted by a safety car period caused by a crash for the Am class Audi of Ash Samadi crucially passing title rival Brown in the opening stint.

Penalties for both the race-leading MPC Audi of Leitch and Miles for an insufficiently long pit stop and for the sister Arise Ferrari of Jaxon Evans and Elliott Schutte for an unsafe release further promoted the points-leading car, which Talbot brought home fourth on the road before he and Mostert were promoted to third.

Victory went the way of Mark Rosser and Alex Peroni, as Rosser inherited the lead when Miles served a drive-through (slipping to an eventual ninth) and held on until the checkered flag under pressure from both Peter Hackett in the Triple Eight Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo started by Declan Fraser and Talbot’s Ferrari.

Gracie and Stokell completed the top five behind the penalized Evans and Schutte, with Schumacher and Brown only managing sixth.

Guest entry Car Collection Motorsport endured a tough baptism of fire at Bathurst as the Porsche 911 GT3 R shared by Alex Fontana and ‘Hash’ finished 11th on Saturday and then 12th in the finale.

Garth Walden and Mike Sheargold took the Am drivers’ title with a race to spare, finishing second in their RAM Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo in Saturday’s opener to give themselves an unassailable lead heading into Sunday.

Although missing out on the main prize, MPC claimed the overall teams’ title including the endurance events that didn’t count for the drivers’ standings, the Repco Bathurst 12 Hour in February and last month’s Sydney Motorsport Park enduro.

RESULTS: Race 1/Race 2