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GT World Challenge Australia

Walkinshaw Porsche Scorches to Maiden Pole in Sydney

Walkinshaw GT3 takes first Australian GT Endurance pole at Sydney…

Photo: Australian GT

Photo: Australian GT

Duvashan Padayachee and John Martin have combined to hand Walkinshaw GT3 its first pole position for Round 2 of the CAMS Australian Endurance Championship at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Martin ended the opening qualifying session fastest, setting a blistering time of 1:27.083 as the chequered flag fell to end the session.

His effort was then matched by a strong lap from Padayachee in the second session to confirm the Porsche 911 GT3 R’s place at the front of the field.

“I’m really happy,” beamed Martin. “I got baulked on my best lap but the 1:27 was a pretty good lap too but I’m happy to be starting at the front!”

“It’s great,” added Padayachee. “The team has done a really good job with the car and it’s nice to be able to get such a strong result for them.”

Joining the Walkinshaw GT3 Porsche 911 on the front row for the 101-lap epic is the Theo Koundouris/Marcus Marshall Supabarn Supermarkets Audi R8 LMS which lapped Sydney Motorsport Park in a combined time of 1:28.339.

The all-German front row is followed by an all-British second row, with father and son combination Andrew and George Miedecke (Miedecke Motor Group Aston Martin) claiming third with Tony Walls and Warren Luff (Objective Racing McLaren 650S GT3) fourth fastest.

McLarens also claimed fifth fastest courtesy of Klark Quinn and Daniel Gaunt, while championship leaders Grant Denyer and Nathan Morcom qualified their McLaren Melbourne 650S GT3 eighth in a competitive field that saw just two tenths separate third to 14th.

Building on a strong third place at the season opening Phillip Island 101, Dominic Story and Peter Hackett will start a strong sixth place in the Eggleston Motorsport prepared Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Greg Taylor and Nathan Antunes qualified the GT Motorsport car seventh fastest, with Miguel Molina and Tony Bates making for three Audi R8 LMS in the top ten.

Tomorrow’s race gets underway at 8:30 a.m. local time, with two compulsory stops and 101 laps of the 5.3-kilometre Sydney Motorsport Park circuit awaiting teams. The race will be broadcast live in Australia on Fox Sports, channel 506.

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