Jordan Love has strengthened his lead of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia presented by Pirelli series with a clean sweep of race victories at Winton Motor Raceway, while Anthony Gilbertson continued his impressive Winton pace in an effort to rekindle his Elite Class title hopes.
Following Love’s domination of Saturday’s Jim Richards Endurance Trophy race, the West Australian had an impressive race two start – in contrast to his race one launch – to lead into the opening corner. From there Love established a lead and was unchallenged for the remainder of the shortened 11 lap race, reduced in length after safety crews had to recover the stricken Brett Boulton entry, which broke a drive shaft on the warm-up lap.
Love finished five seconds ahead of fellow West Australian and his day-to-day boss Peter Major, with Brenton Grove rounding out the top three outright and Professional Class entries.
Love repeated the feat in the third race of the weekend, claiming a six second victory from Major, with Grove again in third place.
The result handed Love a 44 point and 42 point lead in the Outright and Professional Class standings, respectively, from second placed Grove.
“I’m really happy with the weekend; I certainly can’t complain with three race wins here at Winton,” Love said.
“I’m still getting my head around the car and there are a lot of things I still have to work on. Though I’m happy with my progress in that aspect at this point in the season; I have picked up racing a Porsche quicker than I expected, which was largely helped by racing in the Bathurst 12 Hour.
“I’m looking forward to Sydney. It’s the only circuit I haven’t yet been on in a tin-top so I’m looking forward to a great learning weekend.”
Gilbertson had similar success in the Elite Class. After becoming the first Elite Class driver to score an outright pole position in Saturday’s qualifying session, Gilbertson placed fourth outright and claimed the Elite Class win in race one ahead of fellow South Australians John Karytinos and Sam Shahin.
Gilbertson continued his strong Winton form in Sunday’s two races, on both occasions driving consistent races to take two fourth place finishes, including an Elite Class victory in both.
“It was basically the perfect weekend for me here at Winton,” Gilbertson said.
“I certainly had a lot to prove to myself this weekend. I was pretty disappointed after Phillip Island about my driving in general. I really wanted to come here and prove that I could drive a car fast and consistent all weekend, and that’s exactly what I did.
“The funny thing is that last year Winton was my least favourite track and now it’s looking like my favourite. Hopefully we can continue this form in Sydney.”
Karytinos and Shahin both claimed a second and third result in the Elite Class on Sunday, however Karytinos’ second place in race one handed him second in class for the round, with Shahin – on his birthday – claiming the last step on the Elite Class podium.
Shahin continues to lead the Elite Class standings, now 22 points ahead of Karytinos, with Gilbertson now in third a further 12 points behind.
John Morriss had a strong showing on Sunday, placing seventh outright and fourth in the Elite Class in both races while Phil Morriss, Rob Woods, Marcel Zalloua and Boulton all showed strong Sunday pace.
David Greig claimed his first Class B victory, clean sweeping the class, though his job wasn’t made easy by Andrew Goldie in his series debut.
Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia presented by Pirelli will now visit Sydney Motorsport Park as the series enters the second half of the 2017 season on July 07-09.
Results – Race 2
1. #79 Jordan Love (Professional Class) Sonic Motor Racing / Quintis – 11 laps, 15:20.3301s
2. #14 Peter Major (Professional Class) PM Motorsport – 11 laps, 15:25.6237s
3. #23 Brenton Grove (Professional Class) Grove Hire – 11 laps, 15:28.8949s
4. #19 Anthony Gilbertson (Elite Class) Hallmark Homes – 11 laps, 15:29.5421s
5. #16 John Karytinos (Elite Class) Richmonds Automotive – 11 laps, 15:30.4805s
6. #13 Sam Shahin (Elite Class) HTFU – 11 laps, 15:30.7599s
7. #34 John Morriss (Elite Class) Motorsport Leasing P/L – 11 laps, 15:40.0092s
8. #88 Phil Morriss (Elite Class) Morriss Racing Services – 11 laps, 16:15.4499s
9. #29 Rob Woods (Elite Class) Platinum Nightclub – 11 laps, 16:21.3824s
10. #87 David Greig (Class B) 11 laps, 16:24.3539s
11. #22 Andrew Goldie (Class B) 11 laps, 16:26.3975s
12. #17 Marcel Zalloua (Elite Class) 360 Motorsport/Valmont – 11 laps, 16:27.0018s
13. #78 John Steffensen (Professional Class) Zagame Autosport – 9 laps, 15:47.6072s
DNF #84 Brett Boulton (Elite Class) Bold Living
Results – Race 3
1. #79 Jordan Love (Professional Class) Sonic Motor Racing / Quintis – 12 laps, 16:40.4073s
2. #14 Peter Major (Professional Class) PM Motorsport – 12 laps, 16:46.0132s
3. #23 Brenton Grove (Professional Class) Grove Hire – 12 laps, 16:53.3508s
4. #19 Anthony Gilbertson (Elite Class) Hallmark Homes – 12 laps, 16:53.6941s
5. #13 Sam Shahin (Elite Class) HTFU – 12 laps, 16:54.0157s
6. #16 John Karytinos (Elite Class) Richmonds Automotive – 12 laps, 16:54.4660s
7. #34 John Morriss (Elite Class) Motorsport Leasing P/L – 12 laps, 17:00.1665s
8. #84 Brett Boulton (Elite Class) Bold Living – 12 laps, 17:14.3018s
9. #17 Marcel Zalloua (Elite Class) 360 Motorsport / Valmont – 12 laps, 17:21.1067s
10. #88 Phil Morriss (Elite Class) Morriss Racing Services – 12 laps, 17:27.9977s
11. #29 Rob Woods (Elite Class) Platinum Nightclub – 12 laps, 17:33.7032s
12. #87 David Greig (Class B) 12 laps, 17:34.7499s
13. #22 Andrew Goldie (Class B) 12 laps, 17:36.4212s
14. #78 John Steffensen (Professional Class) Zagame Autosport – 10 laps, 16:45.1269s