Bates wins Aus GT opener/van der Linde penalised

Tony Bates has celebrated his debut as an Australian GT full-timer with a maiden victory in Race 1 at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide.

Audi factory star Kelvin van der Linde cruelled himself with a Safety Car infringement while leading, while Nathan Antunes and Tony Quinn suffered separate hits with the wall.

Van der Linde led the field away from pole position but there was immediate carnage when Quinn’s McLaren turned right through Senna Chicane, clipping Max Twigg (#8 Mercedes) and finishing in the wall.

With Quinn managing to clear the #7 Darrell Lea entry from the circuit, van der Linde put three seconds on the field on the opening lap.

He broke the lap record of the man who he replaced at Jamec Pem, Christopher Mies, on Lap 4, and had the #74 Audi five seconds clear when second-placed Nathan Antunes lost control of his R8 and hit the wall exiting Senna Chicane.

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Van der Linde set about gapping Ash Walsh when the green flags flew on Lap 7, but was forced to serve a drive-through shortly after for weaving after the Safety Car had pulled away, dropping to 12th.

Walsh continued to lead in James Koundouris’ Supabarn Audi until the compulsory pit stop window, after which time Tony Bates (#24 Mercedes) took control of the race by virtue of a short CPS time (50s).

Roger Lago (#23 Lamborghini) shook off the threat of Peter Major (#14 Lamborghini) for second shortly after the pit stops cycle, but could not make any serious inroads on Bates’ seven-second lead.

The front of the field remained largely unchanged as the 38-minute race drew to a conclusion, with Bates, Lago, and Major making up the podium, ahead of Liam Talbot (#911 Porsche) and Tony Walls (#11 McLaren).

Koundouris/Walsh, Mark Griffith (#19 Mercedes), Steve McLaughlan (#75 Audi), Fraser Ross/Come Ledogar (#59 McLaren), and Craig Baird/Scott Traylor (#222 Mercedes) completed the top ten.

Geoff Emery gained a place in the #74 Audi to finish 13th, after van der Linde had handed the car over while on track to lower the lap record again.

Steven Richards/James Bergmuller were 16th after the four-time Bathurst 1000 winner started from pit lane due to pre-race issues with the #100 BMW.

Australian GT returns to the track for another 38-minute race tomorrow from 0910 ACDT (0940 AEDT).

Results: Australian GT Championship Race 1, Clipsal 500

1	Moveitnet/AFS	Tony Bates (VIC)	Mercedes AMG GTS GT3	27	39:37.3662
2	JBS Australia	Roger Lago (Qld)	Lamborghini R-EX	27	39:44.6317
3	PM Motorsport	Peter Major (WA)	Lamborghini R-EX	27	39:46.7745
4	Mega Racing	Liam Talbot (Qld)	Porsche 911 GT3-R	27	39:54.2401
5	Objective Racing	Tony Walls (NSW)	McLaren 650S GT3	27	40:10.5938
6	Supabarn Supermarkets	J.Koundouris/A.Walsh	Audi R8 LMS	27	40:13.0985
7	Hogs Breath Cafe/Griffith Co	Mark Griffith (Qld)	Mercedes Benz AMG GT	27	40:14.4865
8	Tekno	F.Ross/C.Ledogar	McLaren 650S GT3	27	40:14.7702
9	Valvoline	Steven McLaughlan (Vic)	Audi R8 LMS	27	40:16.2453
10	Scott Taylor Motorsport	S.Taylor/C.Baird	Mercedes Benz AMG GT	27	40:17.0579
11	Interlloy M Motorsport	J.McMillan/G.Wood	Lamborghini R-EX	27	40:20.6288
12	Bank SA	B.Griguol/T.Macrow	Lamborghini R-EX	27	40:38.4528
13	Valvoline	K.van der Linde/G.Emery	Audi R8 LMS	27	40:38.8296
14	HHH Triffid Racing	M.Hovey/D.Jilesen	Lamborghini R-EX	27	40:40.4942
15	Ah Apartments	Ash Samadi (VIC)	Audi R8 LMS	27	40:44.4592
16	BMW Team SRM	S.Richards/J.Bergmuller	BMW M6 GT3	27	40:57.3071
17	AMAC Motorsport	Andrew MacPherson (NSW)	Porsche 997 GT3-R	27	41:01.0238
18	Hallmarc Constructions	Marc Cini (Vic)	Audi R8 LMS	26	39:53.7015
19	Veloce Motorsport – ULX110	Keith Wong (SA)	Porsche GT3 Cup	26	40:15.3286
20	Shoal/Thomson Geer Lawyers	Michael O’Donnell (SA)	Porsche GT3 Cup	26	40:20.0128
21	Australian Engineered Flooring	Max Twigg (Vic)	Mercedes Benz AMG GT	26	40:26.0263
22	Haemokinesis/Pire	Jim Manolios (Vic)	Lamborghini Huracan	25	40:33.4329
23	Hungry Jacks	Tim Miles (NSW)	Lamborghini R-EX	24	39:59.9065
DNF	GT Motorsport	Nathan Antunes (NSW)	Audi R8 LMS	4	5:30.5406
DNF	Darrell Lea	Tony Quinn (Qld)	McLaren 650s GT3