Supercars stars tackle international GT races

Supercars PIRTEK Enduro Cup drivers tackled GT races in America, China and New Zealand last weekend, as part of a hectic October.

Between the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 and Vodafone Gold Coast 600, a handful of Supercars regulars and co-drivers headed overseas to try their hand in GT machinery.

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, USA

Tickford Racing full-timer Chaz Mostert and Triple Eight enduro import Earl Bamber both headed to the Petit Le Mans in Atlanta, Georgia following Bathurst.

A recommencement of his BMW duties following various outings in its M6 GT3 in recent years, Mostert stepped up to the M8 GTE for his US racing debut in the 10-hour contest.

Sharing with John Edwards and Jesse Krohn, Mostert took third in the GTLM class and 14th outright, later posting on social media that his co-drivers “made me look good”.

American Edwards had earlier qualified the Team Rahal Letterman Lanigan BMW on pole in GTLM.

The Porsche co-driven by WeatherTech sportscar regular Bamber finished the race sixth in class, rounding out the Kiwi’s season before returning to Australia.

Bamber will be racing in the Supercars and Carrera Cup races on the Gold Coast, competing in the latter to help him learn the Surfers Paradise street circuit.

Blancpain GT Asia, China

Brad Jones Racing’s Tim Slade brushed off a disappointing Bathurst and headed to Ningbo, China, for his latest Blancpain GT Asia commitment.

It marked Slade’s fourth outing for the year in the HubAuto Racing Ferrari he shares in the Pro-Am Class with Taiwanese driver Morris Chen.

Slade was again among the pace-setters, topping second practice before recording the second fastest time in Qualifying 2, edging out Ferrari team-mate and fellow Aussie Nick Foster.

The Slade/Chen combination managed eighth and 13th outright in the respective races, including a second in the Pro-Am Class in the opener.

Australian GT Championship, New Zealand

Garry Rogers Motorsport’s Garth Tander proved a winner in New Zealand, sharing an Audi R8 with Geoff Emery to take out the Hampton Downs 500.

Tander used the aggressive race craft for which he is known in Supercars to take the win, muscling past John Martin’s Walkinshaw-run Porsche in the closing stages.

The result secured the Australian GT Championship title for Tander’s co-driver, former Dunlop Super2 stalwart Emery.

The other title on offer – the Australian Endurance Championship – went to DJR Team Penske’s Enduro Cup runner Tony D’Alberto.

D’Alberto won the title alongside Max Twigg with a third place finish at Hampton Downs, completing the three-event campaign aboard a Scott Taylor Motorsport Mercedes.

Bathurst 1000 winner Steven Richards was also in the field, finishing seventh in his BMW alongside Michael Almond, securing third in the AEC standings with their BMW.