Title Fight Intensifies At Queensland Raceway

The Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Australia championship chase has intensified following an entertaining round four battle at Queensland Raceway, with Simon Fallon, Brett Boulton and Christian Pancione securing round victory.

The Pro class provided tremendous racing throughout Sunday’s two sprint races, with Victorian Simon Fallon triumphant in both.

After struggling with a fifth place in the 40-lap race one, Fallon bounced back from fifth on the race two grid to lead exiting turn two. From there, he went on to win despite points leader Cooper Murray applying pressure for the majority of the race.

Fallon continued at the front in race three, taking victory from Vidau and cementing his position on the top step of the overall and Pro round podiums. What made Fallon’s success even sweeter, however, was the DNF of Murray, who retired from race three with radiator damage.

After entering Sunday with a 71-point deficit in the overall standings, Fallon departed Queensland Raceway with just a five-point margin to Murray, while the Pro class margin sits at 18 points.

“After Saturday’s performance I really didn’t think this would be possible; coming out of today with two race wins and the round win. I’m happy with the results and I learnt a heap over the weekend,” said Fallon.

“I’m still making a few mistakes, still learning and I’m getting quicker and quicker every weekend and hopefully I can continue to improve and have another strong performance at the next round at Winton.”

Vidau followed his second place in race one with sixth place in race two following an early-race mistake, dropping him down the order while battling for the lead. Vidau recovered to place second for race three and second for the round on the Pro podium, while a fourth place on Saturday followed by two third place results handed Chelsea Angelo her first podium in the series in third.

Pro-Am honours went to Brett Boulton, who clean swept the Queensland Raceway round. The local driver topped the round podium from Danny Stutterd and his McElrea Racing teammate Michael Hovey.

“I’m very happy with the result. I needed it if I’m to have any look into the Pro-Am championship. But the three wins on home turf was great,” said Boulton, who showed impressive pace in relation to his Pro class rivals.

“I got some really good starts and tried to latch onto the back of the Pro drivers for as long as I could. It took a bit out of me doing the endurance race one and I dropped back a bit, but for the two sprint races I held on quite well. Now we go onto Winton and hope for the best.”

Meanwhile Christian Pancione continued his impressive Class B form, winning all three Class B races, taking the top step of the round podium from second-placed David Greig and Phil Morriss while extending his class lead to a substantial 167 points.

Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Australia will next return to the track at Winton Motor Raceway on August 31-September 02 for the season’s penultimate round, where the Jim Richards Endurance Trophy will be decided.