Shahin and Audi the big winners in Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS at Bathurst

Melbourne Performance Centre and Audi were the victors in the two races completing the inaugural Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS season at Bathurst.

Pro-Am Championship leader Yasser Shahin placed third in his Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo as he aimed to seal the title, starting the weekend solo due to new overseas entry restrictions preventing factory Audi Sport ace Christopher Mies from participating until Race 1.

In the class standings, Pro-Am and GT Trophy were both left to be contended, however Am Class was sewn up as AMAC Motorsport’s pairing Andrew Macpherson and Ben Porter’s key opposition were not entered, with the duo swapping Lamborghini for Porsche for Bathurst.

The GT Trophy battle was the closest with Brad Schumacher debuting a newer Audi and Brett Hobson in his fan favourite Nissan GT-R GT3 were separated by 25-points.

Triple Eight Race Engineering started the weekend off on top as Prince Jefri Ibrahim partnered with new co-driver Peter Hackett topping the combined practice sessions in the Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Father-son team Stephen and Brenton Grove started their weekend off strongly to be placed second, completing their first season driving the latest specification Porsche 911 GT3R.

Experienced GT drivers Fraser Ross and Liam Talbot combined for the first time in an MPC-prepared, Coinspot-supported Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo, with the former taking pole in his session.

Brenton Grove dipped into the 2m 04s to snatch the equivalent in Pro Qualifying heading into two one-hour races.

Debuting his new Audi, Mark Rosser jumped the start then collided with GT returnee James Koundouris at The Chase as the story of the race was Mies and his pace.

Needing to hunt down leader Ross during the closing stages, the German ace was able to bridge a 12s gap to take the win and deliver Shahin the title.

Behind Ross maintained second ahead of leading GT Trophy contender Brett Hobson, with the Triple Eight pairing rounding out the five.

Driving a recently upgraded Audi, Gary Higgon and Paul Stokell finished as lead Am team in fifth.

In Race 2 it was Ross and Talbot, who turned the tables by winning the race, plus the round on countback.

It was an exciting conclusion as Hobson was closing on the lead Audi, but just fell short.

Mies again charged, but his stint was hampered by multiple safety cars as Hackett spun at McPhillamy Park, then three laps later Porter tangled with Theo Koundouris as most teams pitted during this time.

Talbot had work to do when he re-joined as Stephen Grove emerged in the lead after the pit sequence, however the Audi went down the inside at The Chase, while Hobson and Shahin also demoted the Porsche.

Behind, Marc Cini finished eighth outright and first in Am Class.

Brad Schumacher took the GT Trophy title by finishing third in GT Trophy for the round, eight points clear of Hobson.

The calendar for the 2022 Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS will be confirmed in the near future.