Shahin Shines on Australian GT Debut

Series debutant Yasser Shahin has taken victory at Round 4 of the CAMS Australian GT Championship at Phillip Island.

A strong performance in the opening race of the weekend saw The Bend Motorsport Park driver claim second before going one better in Race 2.

It was the Lamborghini driver’s first CAMS Australian GT Championship victory, while his two podium positions proved enough to claim the overall round victory.

Second in the championship heading into the weekend, DPO McLaren driver Nathan Morcom opened the first race with a stunning recovery drive from 28th on the grid.

Morcom took full advantage of a mid-race safety car to move into the lead after 30 laps, holding it to the finish.

Combined with a solid tenth place in the Race 2, Morcom claimed second for the weekend and moves into the lead of the championship.

A hard charging drive from Garth Tander in the second race saw the Jamec Pem Audi climb from 16th to second, ending the race right on the tail of race winner Shahin.

Together with co-driver Steven McLaughlan, the duo sealed third place for the round, making for three different marques on the overall podium.

Klark Quinn and Shane Van Gisbergen combined to claim third in the opening race in the Darrell Lea McLaren 650S GT3, the duo ending the weekend in fourth overall after a combative drive in Race 2.

BMW Z4 GT3 racer Ricky Capo claimed his best Australian GT results with fifth in Race 2 and for the weekend – a result helped by a strong seventh place in the opening 60-minute encounter.

After leading much of the race, Glen Wood and Just McMillan claimed the final podium spot in Race 2 to take seventh place for the round, that Lamborghini having shown strong pace in the middle part of the race.

The Interlloy M Motorsport Lamborghini pairing were one spot behind Tony D’Alberto and Graham Smythe in the Maranello Motorsport Ferrari 458 GT3 for the weekend, who ended Race 2 in fourth place.

Roger Lago and Tony Walls were split by just a single point in the Gold Driver Cup, the two rarely far apart across both races.

Lago continues to lead the competition from Walls in second with McLaughlan in close company in third.

The next round of the CAMS Australian GT Championship takes place at the Townsville 400 on July 8-10.

The inaugural CAMS Australian Endurance Championship gets underway tomorrow morning with two qualifying sessions ahead of the Phillip Island 101.