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Antunes bags Clipsal Australian GT double

Speedcafe.com

By Speedcafe.com

Saturday 28th February, 2015 - 9:26pm
Nathan Antunes has claimed a double in the opening two Australian GT Championship races

Nathan Antunes has claimed a double in the opening two Australian GT Championship races

Nathan Antunes had to shoulder a pit lane penalty before winning the 60-minute encounter in the Australian GT Championship Presented by Pirelli at the Clipsal 500.

Driving the Swirk Audi, Antunes was pinched for his role in an incident that saw Ford GT driver Kevin Weeks eliminated near half race distance.

He rejoined in second before reclaiming the lead to beat the McLaren father and son of Tony and Klark Quinn by 5.76s before a 5s penalty was added to the Queenslanders for kerb hopping.

Kiwi combination Jono Lester and Paul Kelly finished third in their Trass Family Ferrari 458.

Their run was highlighted when Lester took a selfie pic of him and Kelly during their driver change while a crew member adjusted the drivers seat for Lester to climb aboard for the run home, a novel way to fill in time for a mandotary 57s category pro class penalty.

The brand new McLaren 650S of Tony Walls came home fourth ahead of Peter Fitzgerald (Audi), Michael Hovey (Ginetta), the recovering McLaughlan/Steven Johnson (Audi), Mies/Greg Crick (Audi), the Trophy Class-winning Porsche of John Goodacre and the second-placed Trophy Class Porsche of Theo Koundouris.

Mark Griffiths’ Audi finished third in Trophy Class and was 11th overall, while Race 1 winner Richard Gartner claimed the Challenge Class – his Porsche GT3 Cup Car finished 19th overall.

The only other Challenge finisher was the Lotus of Tony Alford and Mark O’Connor, though it spent time in the pits after contact with the wall. It was the 23rd and last classified finisher in the race, seven laps down on the Gartner Porsche.

The pair of 7.9-litre Camaros continued to have dramas with the Justin McMillan/Tomas Enge car failing to start and the Dale Paterson/Steve Richards entry only completing six laps.

Another non-starter was the Porsche of James Koundouris and Marcus Marshall.

After finishing second in Race 1 and thus earning a front row start for Race 2, their Porsche GT3-R didn’t make it past the dummy grid after it failed to select gears.

A loose wire in the fuse box under the dash was later found to be the offending item but by then it was too late for them to take their place in second position on the grid.

The final race of the weekend will be held tomorrow morning at 9.35am local time (10.05am AEDT).

It will be a 30-minute timed race with a compulsory pit stop and no driver change.

Cars with two drivers will be required to use the driver that started Race 2 today.

See below for full Australian GT Race 1 results

1   

Skwirk / Beechwood Homes      

Nathan Antunes (NSW)   

Audi R8 Ultra        

18

30:45.4579

2   

Supabarn Supermarkets         

Marcus Marshall (QLD)

Porsche 997 GT3-R    

18

30:47.3860

3   

EVA Racing / Evolve Technik   

Peter Fitzgerald (VIC)

Audi R8 Ultra        

18

31:01.3466

4   

Trass Family Motorsport       

Jono Lester (NZ)       

Ferrari 458 GT3      

18

31:01.6581

5   

Objective Racing              

Tony Walls (QLD)       

McLaren 650S GT3     

18

31:06.3476

6   

Adina Apartment Hotels        

Barton Mawer (NSW)     

Audi R8 LMS          

18

31:09.6761

7   

JAMEC PEM Racing              

Greg Crick (TAS)       

Audi R8 Ultra        

18

31:14.3634

8   

Erebus Motorsport Pty Ltd     

Max Twigg              

Mercedes Benz AMG SL

18

31:17.1169

9   

DPM Motorsport                

Steven Richards (VIC)

Reiter Camaro GT3    

18

31:24.1514

10

AMAC Motorsport               

Andrew Macpherson (NSW)

Porsche 997 GT3-R    

18

31:28.2539

11

Hogs Breath Caf             

  Mark Griffith (QLD)   

Audi R8 LMS         

18

31:28.6169

12

Interlloy M Motorsport        

Tomas Enge             

Reiter Camaro GT3    

18

31:32.1537

13

Fastway Couriers              

Warren Luff            

Porsche GT3 Cup Car

18

31:33.2340

14

HHH Racing/Triffid/ESP        

Michael Hovey (QLD)    

Ginetta G55 GT3      

18

31:38.8545

15

Supabarn Supermarkets         

Theo Koundouris (ACT)

Porsche 996 GT3-S    

18

31:39.5186

16

JAMEC PEM Racing              

Steven McLaughlan (VIC)

Audi R8 Ultra        

18

31:40.4605

17

Team FreeM                    

Ross Lilley (VIC)      

Lamborghini Gallardo

18

31:53.4017

18

Motorsport Services           

Simon McLennon (NZ)    

Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

18

31:53.6242

19

Supaloc Racing                

Kevin Weeks (SA)       

Ford GT 2011 GT3     

18

31:58.1355

20

SAFE-T-STOP                   

Richard Gartner (NSW)

Porsche GT3 Cup Car

18

32:00.8106

21

Gap Solutions                 

John Goodacre (SA)     

Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

18

32:01.4768

22

DJS Racing Motorsport Services

Daniel Stuttered (VIC)

Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

18

32:03.4706

23

Darrell Lea                   

Klark Quinn (QLD)      

McLaren MP412-C      

18

32:10.6021

24

Thomson Geer Lawyers          

Michael O’Donnell (SA)

Porsche GT3 Cup Car

18

32:11.9843

25

Maranello Motorsport          

Adrian Deitz (NSW)     

Ferrari 458 GT3      

18

32:12.0957

26

Bank SA                       

Brenton Griguol (SA)   

Ferrari F430 GT3     

18

32:15.0480

27

Motor School                  

Ben Foessel (QLD)      

Ginetta G50Z         

17

30:50.9942

28

Keith Wong                    

Keith Wong (SA)        

Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

17

30:56.9419

29

Donut King                    

Tony Alford (QLD)      

Lotus Exige Cup 7    

17

31:22.4846

30

JJA Consulting Group          

Jan Jinadasa (VIC)     

Lamborghini LP560-4

17

32:10.0220

DNF

johnmagro.com                 

John Magro (QLD)       

Lamborghini Gallardo

12

22:30.3460

DNF

Walz Group                    

Matt Kingsley (QLD)    

Porsche GT3 Cup Car

11

21:38.1145

DNF

Taplin Real Estate/VIP Holding

Dean Canto (SA)        

Aston Martin Vantage

  8

16:51.3571

DNF

Erebus Motorsport Pty Ltd     

Morgan Haber           

Mercedes Benz AMG SL

  3

  4:33.5082

See below for full Australian GT Race 2 results

1

Skwirk / Beechwood Homes      

Nathan Antunes (NSW)   

Audi R8 Ultra       

42

01:01:30.4992

2

Darrell Lea                   

K.Quinn/T.Quinn        

McLaren MP412-C     

42

01:01:41.2670

3

Trass Family Motorsport       

J.Lester/P.Kelly       

Ferrari 458 GT3     

42

01:01:49.9964

4

Objective Racing              

Tony Walls (QLD)       

McLaren 650S GT3    

42

01:01:52.5225

5

EVA Racing / Evolve Technik   

Peter Fitzgerald (VIC)

Audi R8 Ultra       

42

01:02:10.6994

6

HHH Racing/Triffid/ESP        

Michael Hovey (QLD)    

Ginetta G55 GT3     

42

01:02:15.0397

7

JAMEC PEM Racing              

S.McLaughlan/S.Johnson

Audi R8 Ultra       

42

01:02:23.5698

8

JAMEC PEM Racing              

C.Mies/G.Crick         

Audi R8 Ultra       

42

01:02:25.1783

9

Gap Solutions                 

John Goodacre (SA)     

Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

42

01:02:25.9273

10

Supabarn Supermarkets         

Theo Koundouris (ACT)

Porsche 996 GT3-S   

42

01:02:35.5379

11

Hogs Breath Caf              

Mark Griffith (QLD)   

  Audi R8 LMS        

42

01:02:43.7143

12

Maranello Motorsport          

A.Deitz/C.McConville   

Ferrari 458 GT3     

42

01:02:53.2406

13

AMAC Motorsport               

A.Macpherson/J.Winslow

Porsche 997 GT3-R   

42

01:02:57.7942

14

Fastway Couriers              

S.Ellinghham/W.Luff    

Porsche GT3 Cup Car

41

01:01:51.9489

15

Erebus Motorsport Pty Ltd     

M.Twigg/G.Emery        

Mercedes Benz AMG SL

41

01:01:53.3619

16

Adina Apartment Hotels        

G.Taylor/B.Mawer       

Audi R8 LMS         

41

01:02:11.1706

17

JJA Consulting Group          

Jan Jinadasa (VIC)     

Lamborghini LP560-4

41

01:02:18.3439

18

Team FreeM                    

Ross Lilley (VIC)      

Lamborghini Gallardo

41

01:02:32.2422

19

SAFE-T-STOP                   

Richard Gartner (NSW)

Porsche GT3 Cup Car

41

01:02:46.2595

20

DJS Racing Motorsport Services

Daniel Stuttered (VIC)

Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

40

01:02:01.6331

21

Bank SA                       

Brenton Griguol (SA)   

Ferrari F430 GT3    

39

01:01:30.6903

22

Motorsport Services           

T.Macrow/S.McLennon    

Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

39

01:01:41.3770

23

Donut King                    

T.Alford/M.O’Connor    

Lotus Exige Cup 7   

34

01:02:26.3434

DNF

Keith Wong                    

K.Wong/K.Wong          

Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

27

   44:08.6597

DNF

Thomson Geer Lawyers          

Michael O’Donnell (SA)

Porsche GT3 Cup Car

16

   25:06.1609

DNF

johnmagro.com                 

John Magro (QLD)       

Lamborghini Gallardo

14

   20:39.6390

DNF

Supaloc Racing                

Kevin Weeks (SA)       

Ford GT 2011 GT3    

14

   20:45.5399

DNF

Motor School                  

Ben Foessel (QLD)      

Ginetta G50Z        

10

   15:01.9493

DNF

DPM Motorsport                

Dale Paterson (VIC)    

Reiter Camaro GT3   

6

   11:20.3223

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