Sydney Motorsport Park Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Round 4

Published on the 12th of July 2017 by McElrea Racing

After a successful round for Anthony last time out at Winton, we were very keen to get him closer to the lead of the Elite Championship and also get impressive rookie team-mate Brett on the podium for a second time this season.

Anthony Gilbertson

GT3 Cup Challenge 'Elite Class' 1st, 1st, 1st

Anthony did a great job in qualifying to be on Elite class pole and 3rd outright. In the 30 lap Jim Richards Endurance opening race he started really strong but over-drove his rear tyres so he had to manage them carefully for the second half of the race. Shahin got by while Gilbo was struggling with his rear tyres, but thanks to a 5 second penalty for Shahin, he ended up beating him by 1/10th of a second to win the race in Elite class.

In race two Anthony had to overcome a fast starting championship contender Sam Shahin with a great move into turn 2. After pulling a gap he settled into a rhythm and netted another handy win. In race 3 Gilbo had a blinding start to lead the field, before allowing two pros through and he had a relatively untroubled run to his third win of the weekend.

Brett Boulton

GT3 Cup Challenge 'Elite Class' 3rd, 3rd, 3rd

Brett's impressive form continued at Sydney Motorsport Park, with him qualifying in a very strong 3rd in Elite class and 5th outright.

'Blisters' got a ripper start and drove a great race but it wasn't without it's challenges particularly when he started getting some throttle sticking issues, later in the race. Again he drove with maturity well beyond his experience to bring the car home 5th outright and a podium position in the Elite class.

In race 2 Brett dropped a spot on lap 1, but kept his head and had a great race eventually getting ahead of Gilbo's championship-rival Shahin on the last lap for another top 3 finish.

In the third and final race 'Blisters' continued his trend of third place finishes, but had to work hard to keep ahead of a fast finishing Marcel, on green tyres.

Summary

Obviously we are rapt for both Anthony and Brett being able to finish on the podium.

Anthony has taken a big chunk out of his championship points deficit to Sam Shahin and Brett's amazing rookie season just keeps getting better. To be on the podium on his first visit to the very technical and challenging SMP circuit is most impressive.

It was hilarious to see the boys celebrating with a double shoey (drinking champagne from your race boot on the podium!) in an MR first!

Our next AGT round is at Queensland Raceway in four weeks for round five. See you there!