APC and GT4 – The Season So Far – Shannons SpeedSeries

The Mobil 1 Australian Production Car Series and Monochrome GT4 Australia Series have shared the grid across two epic rounds of racing so far in 2023, with the GT4 class making its return to the track in hopes of becoming a potential standalone series next year.

Racing side by side, the two categories have provided plenty of exciting action at both the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit and Sydney Motorsport Park respectively, setting up an intriguing back end of the season.

Before the series take to the track at the Queensland Raceway in August, let’s check out how the first two rounds played out.

GT4 Australia

A new era of the Monochrome GT4 Australia Series kicked off at the world famous Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in May, where Shane Smollen found himself atop of the timesheets through practice and qualifying before converting his pole position into his first win of the season during race one.

Karl Begg and Tony Quinn were his closest competitors throughout, with the latter also claiming a podium finish behind Smollen in race two.

A delay to race three due to weather didn’t dampen the on-track action though with Smollen winning in convincing fashion ahead of Quinn and Steve Jukes after the pair endured an epic battle for second place.

Smollen then made it four from four in his brand-new Prestige Connex Porsche Cayman 718, claiming the round win ahead of Quinn and Jukes.

Four one-hour races then awaited the field at Sydney Motorsport Park as part of the Shannons Trophy Series, but it was Smollen and Justin Ruggier who edged out the Mark Griffith and Nash Morris entry to claim a pair of victories on Saturday.

A shortened race three saw Ruggier and Smollen once again crowned race winners, before Morris claimed the fourth and final win of the weekend after a strong drive ahead of Ruggier.

Despite the second-place finish, Smollen and Ruggier claimed the round win ahead of Morris and Griffith, while Jukes was awarded for his results third overall.

Production Cars

Cameron Crick was the first name to join the category’s winners’ list in 2023, finishing ahead of Coleby Cowham in race one at Phillip Island.

Cowham then found himself in second place once again in race two, this time finishing behind Class X winner Grant Sherrin, while brother Iain Sherrin rounded out the top three finishers.

Both Grant and Iain endured an entertaining battle for race three honours on Sunday morning, with Iain coming out on top for his first race win of 2023.

Grant would then get his revenge on his brother by taking the win in race four, claiming outright honours in the process ahead of Cowham and Lindsay Kearns.

Iain wasted no time in taking victory in the first two of four one-hour races at Sydney Motorsport Park in round two in his Sherrin Racing BMW M4.

Crick finished in second place behind Ian in race one, before Grant found his way back into the podium places with second place in race two.

Iain also won the shortened race three ahead of Kearns before completing his clean sweep with a win in the fourth race of the weekend ahead of Cowham.

Iain would claim the obvious outright win for the weekend with Cowham’s second place in race four enough to secure his spot on the second step of the podium, while Kearns earnt himself a solid third.

Standings – top 10

GT4