A sensational Phillip Island clean sweep has handed young gun Cooper Murray victory in round three of the Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Australia series, while Ben Stack and Christian Pancione claimed their maiden class round wins.
Murray’s faultless weekend began with pole position and a dominant 10-second race one win on Saturday before Murray led race two from its outset, managing the gap to second placed Simon Fallon and third placed Jimmy Vernon to the finish.
Murray’s race three victory did not come as easily as his earlier two wins; Fallon gained the lead from the start and retained the front position until lap six, when Murray moved into first place, soon followed by Max Vidau into second, before ultimately claiming the win from Vidau and Fallon.
“I really didn’t expect to come away with three race wins here at Phillip Island. I knew that Max and Simon would be really quick as they have had a few test days here, which makes it pretty satisfying to get the results we did,†said Murray.
As the season reaches its halfway mark, Murray holds a 47-point lead in the overall standings and a 60-point margin ahead of Fallon in the Pro standings.
“From here we’ll make sure we take no risks, get the points and hopefully take the championship at the end of the year,†added Murray.
The Pro-Am class featured Sunday’s best on-track battles between the class leaders Ben Stack, Danny Stutterd and Marcel Zalloua. After Zalloua claimed Saturday’s race one Pro-Am win, Stutterd was the best of the trio in race two before Stack claims Pro-Am honours in race three, with Stutterd and Stack battling head-to-head throughout Sunday’s two races.
The race three class win handed Stack his first-ever GT3 Cup Challenge class round victory.
“This is unreal and really unexpected. It was a really tough weekend and Danny and Marcel were putting the pressure on the whole time. I just tried to stay consistent and do what I was told. I’m very happy,†said Stack.
“Marcel came out of nowhere yesterday and found some pace later in the weekend and Danny was always there, and these guys make their cars incredibly wide when you try to get past them. They certainly made me work for it.â€
Second for the round extended Stutterd’s Pro-Am points lead to 104 points over Brett Boulton, with Stack closing his margin to second place to just seven points.
Former kart racer Christian Pancione was the class of the Class B field on Sunday at Phillip Island in just his third car racing event.
After placing third in class in Saturday’s race one, Pancione claim class victory in Sunday’s two races. While he finished equal on points with David Greig, his race three win handed him his maiden class round win. West Australian Andrew Goldie capped a strong weekend with third in Class B for the round.
Pancione departs Phillip Island with a 103-point Class B lead from Phil Morriss, with round one winner Richard Bloomfield placed third in class.
Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Australia will return for round four at Queensland Raceway on July 27-29, 2018.
Results: Race 2
Position Car Driver Class Laps Race time Fastest Lap
1 36 Cooper Murray Pro 9 16:14.6037 1:32.0034
2 96 Simon Fallon Pro 9 16:17.1707 1:32.1184
3 7 Jimmy Vernon Pro 9 16:25.7618 1:32.7692
4 23 Daniel Stutterd Pro-Am 9 16:32.7875 1:33.9878
5 65 Ben Stack Pro-Am 9 16:33.0456 1:34.0489
6 17 Marcel Zalloua Pro-Am 9 16:33.4805 1:34.5589
7 84 Brett Boulton Pro-Am 9 16:36.9123 1:34.6205
8 38 Chelsea Angelo Pro 9 16:37.0153 1:34.3211
9 77 Max Vidau Pro 9 16:37.1137 1:32.3029
10 27 Sam Fillmore Pro-Am 9 16:38.2135 1:34.4905
11 21 Shane Barwood Pro-Am 9 16:41.4900 1:34.7906
12 76 Christian Pancione Class B 9 16:44.6811 1:35.0599
13 10 Michael Loccisano Pro-Am 9 16:55.1420 1:36.8044
14 87 David Greig Class B 9 16:56.0571 1:36.6269
15 131 Graham Williams Pro-Am 9 16:56.9149 1:36.6924
16 29 Rob Woods Pro-Am 9 17:01.3815 1:37.4191
17 73 Michael Hovey Pro-Am 9 17:01.7248 1:37.2161
18 22 Andrew Goldie Class B 9 17:02.2575 1:37.3648
19 88 Phil Morriss Class B 9 17:02.4110 1:37.0148
20 15 Vince Misuraca Class B 9 17:02.9191 1:37.0413
21 117 Sergio Pires Class B 9 17:04.0479 1:37.6029
22 57 Richard Bloomfield Class B 9 17:04.1666 1:37.3263
23 9 Tony Martin Class B 9 17:14.2899 1:38.6678
DNF 230 Luis Leeds Pro
DNF 99 Ross McGregor Pro-Am
Results: Race 3
Position Car Driver Class Laps Race time Fastest Lap
1 36 Cooper Murray Pro 12 18:43.6219 1:32.4566
2 77 Max Vidau Pro 12 18:44.2253 1:32.3952
3 96 Simon Fallon Pro 12 18:49.7427 1:33.1176
4 7 Jimmy Vernon Pro 12 18:54.2446 1:32.8495
5 38 Chelsea Angelo Pro 12 19:18.5959 1:33.4861
6 65 Ben Stack Pro-Am 12 19:18.9500 1:34.6360
7 23 Daniel Stutterd Pro-Am 12 19:19.2316 1:35.0156
8 17 Marcel Zalloua Pro-Am 12 19:19.7302 1:35.0759
9 76 Christian Pancione Class B 12 19:28.9878 1:35.7793
10 84 Brett Boulton Pro-Am 12 19:32.5116 1:35.0887
11 21 Shane Barwood Pro-Am 12 19:33.1690 1:35.9832
12 73 Michael Hovey Pro-Am 12 19:37.2994 1:35.9269
13 131 Graham Williams Pro-Am 12 19:39.2068 1:36.6283
14 87 David Greig Class B 12 19:45.4874 1:36.8791
15 22 Andrew Goldie Class B 12 19:46.2437 1:37.1011
16 10 Michael Loccisano Pro-Am 12 19:46.7963 1:36.6307
17 57 Richard Bloomfield Class B 12 19:51.9732 1:37.5812
18 29 Rob Woods Pro-Am 12 19:52.2830 1:37.3645
19 99 Ross McGregor Pro-Am 12 19:52.4229 1:37.4625
20 117 Sergio Pires Class B 12 19:54.5274 1:37.2959
21 88 Phil Morriss Class B 12 19:54.8954 1:36.9074
22 27 Sam Fillmore Pro-Am 12 19:58.0723 1:35.3588
23 15 Vince Misuraca Class B 11 19:17.1719 1:37.1771
24 9 Tony Martin Class B 11 20:01.1136 1:39.4302
