Newcomer Major Leads Lamborghini 1-2 in Adelaide Race 2

Peter Major led a Lamborghini 1-2 to the checkered flag in Race 2 of the CAMS Australian GT Championship season-opener in Adelaide, on his debut weekend in the series.

Having claimed third place on his debut in Friday’s Race 1, Major raced his way to the front in the closing stages of the second 40-minute encounter of the weekend, putting a strong move on Roger Lago at the Turn 9 hairpin.

Major and Lago had been locked in battle during the first part of the race, with Major hoping he’d done enough to take the lead following the pit sequence.

However, he still exited the pits behind his rival, and so had to make a daring move in the hairpin to take the lead.

“I set some expectations of myself to try and make it in the top ten, but to get a podium in the first race and then a win has just blown me away,” Major said.

“The team at Zagame Motorsport have put the car together in no time at all. It’s all just happened so quickly, it’s just been amazing. I’ve got to thank Cam McConville and Zagame Motorsport for making it happen.”

An early safety car once again compressed the field when Ash Samadi’s Ah Apartments Audi R8 LMS ground to a halt with a mechanical issue.

At the same time, James Bergmuller also rolled to a halt, although he was able to get the BMW Team SRM GT3 back to pit lane.

The stranded cars triggered the deployment of the safety car, the emergence of which came soon after Come Ledogar had found his way to the front in the McLaren 650S GT3.

At the restart, the Tekno Autosports driver pushed hard in an effort to extend his advantage, coming within touching distance of the lap record in the process.

However, with little time between the safety car releasing the field and the pit stop window, Ledogar would fall back through the field as he handed the car to Fraser Ross.

Ross spent the remainder of the race battling his way forwards, crossing the line seventh after dicing with Ash Walsh, who became the first man to lap the Adelaide Parklands circuit in under 80 seconds.

Following the pit stop cycle, Tim Miles rocketed up the order courtesy of the compressed field and solid pace in the middle part of the race.

The Hungry Jacks-backed Lamborghini R-EX claimed a strong fifth place, one spot back from Mega Racing’s Liam Talbot.

Opting to stop at the last possible moment before the pit window closed, Lago emerged at the head of the race despite having a longer stationary time than second-placed Major.

What followed was a thrilling battle for the lead between the two Lamborghini R-EXs as Major harried the back of Lago’s JBS Australia entry.

A good run out of Turn 8 on lap 23 saw the PM Motorsport car make the decisive move up the inside of Lago at the Turn 9 hairpin.

Refusing to give up without a fight, Lago remained in contact with Major until the final lap. The eventual winner gained a small but crucial lead to take the checkered flag for his first Australian GT race victory.

Tony Bates ended the day in third place, the Race 1 winner gaining more valuable championship points in the Moveitnet/AFS Mercedes-AMG GT3.

The result marked the first Lamborghini 1-2 in Australian GT competition since John Bowe and Mark Eddy took the top two spots at Phillip Island in 2008.

Major will now line up on pole position for tomorrow’s final race of the weekend, which is set to get underway at 9.55 a.m. local time.