It was a thrilling season finale for Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS at the Bathurst International as Alex Peroni and Mark Rosser took their second win of the season, as Arise Racing GT secured a dream debut to take the Pro-Am Sprint title.
Despite starting from the rear of the grid, a storming opening stint from Chaz Mostert set-up the title win for him and Liam Talbot to give Arise Racing GT the ultimate success in its maiden season.
The class victory came after key title rivals Will Brown and Brad Schumacher finished the race seventh in the Shaw & Partners/Kelso Electrical Team MPC Audi.
In the Am Class, Valmont Racing’s Sergio Pires took out the victory to end the year with a pair of race wins for Audi.
The final race of the season proved a dramatic affair in many aspects, with penalties demoting two front runners out of contention throughout the race, starting off with pole sitters Dayle ITM Team MPC Audi of Brendon Leitch and Tim Miles receiving a drive through for a pit stop infraction.
Then despite reaching the chequered flag first, Jaxon Evans and Elliott Schutte’s Arise Racing GT Ferrari 296 GT3 was demoted to fourth after 5 seconds was added to their time for unsafe pit lane release.
The two Pro-Am drivers battled hard right from the get go, and although they made contact at Hell Corner on the opening lap, the overall field emerged from the opening lap without drama.
A squabble in the Am Class between the Audis of Marc Cini and Ash Samadi at Griffins Bend precluded a bigger incident for the latter at Reid Park - Samadi ran wide and met the wall on the outside, with the Audi resting in a precarious position across the track necessitating a safety car.
Having started from the back, Mostert had already climbed four positions by the end of lap 2, as Leitch led up front from Evans, the Realta/Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Jayden Ojeda, Peroni and Car Collection Motorsport’s Alex Fontana.
When the race restarted, Evans ran wide at Reid Park providing an opportunity to Ojeda, who failed to take advantage, while Mostert continued to make ground, moving to sixth after the restart, disposing of a pack that included title rival, Brown.
The race held steady until the first round of pit stops when all the leading contenders pitted at the same time.
Leitch had built up a solid margin to account for a longer stop after finishing third in Race 1. It appeared Leitch and Melbourne Performance Centre had pulled a masterstroke when Miles retained the lead after the pit stop, but stewards ajudged the transit time through the lane was insufficient - leading to a drive through penalty and eventual ninth place finish.
Another to fall foul of the stewards was Evans and Schutte due to an unsafe release, which resulted in a 5s post-race penalty.
Behind Miles and Schutte were Paul Lucchitti in the Realta Mercedes, Rosser in the Audi R8 LMS EVO ll and Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Peter Hackett after the stops. Schutte was handed the lead when Miles entered the pit lane to serve his penalty.
Schutte led a fast freight train consisting of Rosser, Hackett and a fast closing Talbot, but the 5s penalty proved detrimental.
Pires continued to impress for Valmont Racing as he led the Am Cup winning RAM Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo now spearheaded by Mike Sheargold after Garth Walden started the race.
Shane Woodman sat third in the Black Wolf Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo after a solid opening stint from Ben Schoots.
Although Schutte, Rosser, Hackett and Talbot were inseparable during the final stages, it was a stalemate between the leading quartet until the conclusion.
Post-race, Schutte was demoted to fourth once the 5s penalty was applied, with Paul Stokell once again elevating the OnlyFans Team MPC Audi into the top five alongside Renee Gracie.
Brown and Schumacher were sixth ahead of Lucchitti/Ojeda, Grove Racing’s Brenton and Stephen Grove, Leitch/Miles and the lead Am Cup runner in Pires.
RAM Motorsport’s Walden and Sheargold finished ahead of the Car Collection Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3-R of Alex Fontana and Hash, while Black Wolf Motorsport’s Shane Woodman and Ben Schoots maintained third in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.
Darren Currie and Grant ‘Axle’ Donaldson completed a successful maiden Fanatec GT Australia event as the fourth Am Class runner driving the #111 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.
Cini was fifth in Am Class ahead of the Trophy Class winner Stephen Coe in the Ferrari 458 GT3 after the rival KMB Motorsport Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 of Valentino Astuti and Liam Dunn retired.
The champions will be celebrated at a Gala event on Sunday night, with the 2025 Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS season beginning at Phillip Island on April 4-6.