Title Race Tightens as Feeney, Schumacher Win in Queensland

Broc Feeney and Brad Schumacher scored their second win of the season in last weekend’s third round of the GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS at Queensland Raceway, closing in on the lead of the standings.

The drivers of the Kelso Electrical-backed, Melbourne Performance Centre-run No. 888 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II took a straightforward win on Saturday’s opener and followed that up with a strong third place in Sunday’s second race.

It moves them to within 22 points of championship leaders Jaxon Evans and Elliott Schutte of Arise Racing GT at the halfway point of the season.

Team BRM duo Alex Peroni and Mark Rosser made it a clean sweep for Audi crews with victory in Sunday’s finale, their first of the season.

There was early drama at the start of Saturday’s race as contact between Rosser, Tim Miles in the No. 7 MPC Audi and Schutte’s Ferrari 296 GT3 heading to the first corner sent the two Audi drivers off, with Miles out on the spot and Rosser later retiring.

Schumacher meanwhile was untroubled at the head of the field before handing over to Feeney at the mandatory pit stops, the No. 888 Audi’s advantage boosted by penalties for two of the pair’s closest rivals.

One was for the Arise Ferrari that Schutte handed over to Jaxon Evans for failing to fulfil the minimum pit stop time, while the other went to the Volante Rosso Aston Martin Vantage GT3, which had moved up to second, for a pit stop breach.

That should have left the No. 55 Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Sergio Pires and George King with a clear run to second, but King found himself passed by the sister No. 66 Mercedes-AMG of Jayden Ojeda.

Ojeda went on to seal second for himself and Paul Lucchitti, 11 seconds down on Feeney, while Evans recovered from the Arise Ferrari’s earlier penalty to complete the podium.

King slipped to sixth place, dropping behind both the Aston Martin of Liam Talbot and Declan Fraser, as well as the second Arise Ferrari of Aaron Love and Steve Wyatt.

Feeney started Sunday’s race from pole, but a slightly sluggish getaway meant he was immediately jumped by both Peroni, who led throughout his stint before handing over to Rosser at the pit stops, and the Tigani Mercedes-AMG of Ojeda.

Rosser was able to build a big lead as Wyatt, who emerged second after the stops, held up Lucchitti in the battle for second, while Schumacher slipped to fifth behind Miles’ Audi after the No. 888 Audi served its success penalty.

Lucchitti dropped down the order after he misjudged an overtake on Wyatt, taking a trip through the gravel and then spinning, but Wyatt proved unable to hold off either Miles, who went on to finish second in the car started by Brendon Leitch, or Schumacher.

Wyatt hung on for fourth place ahead of the second Arise Ferrari of Evans and Schutte.

Renee Gracie scored another brace of wins in the Am class at the wheel of her OnlyFans-backed No. 181 MPC Audi, meaning she is now on a five-race winning streak and holds a huge 52-point lead over nearest title rivals James and Theo Koundouris.

Paul Stokell and Gary Higgon meanwhile prevailed in both races in the Trophy Class for older machinery at the wheel of the KFC-backed No. 24 MPC Audi.

The second half of the GTWC Australia season will kick off with a visit to Sandown Raceway on July 25-27.

RESULTS: Race 1/Race 2