Jaxon Evans and Elliott Schutte have completed a clean sweep of GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS in Sydney after taking out top honours in Race Two on Sunday afternoon.
Following a dominant Saturday where the pair charged to a 15-second victory, another faultless performance in the Arise Racing GT Ferrari 296 GT3 saw them cross the line ten seconds ahead of the Melbourne Performance Centre (MPC) Audi R8 LMS EVO II of Ryan Wood and Steve Brooks, while MPC teammates Brad Schumacher and Broc Feeney rounded out the Pro-Am podium.
With Evans taking the wheel for the opening stint, the New Zealander was a man on a mission from the outset, quickly building a commanding lead within the first few laps. Behind him, Wood was one of several drivers making early moves — his decisive pass on Tony D’Alberto in the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo II would prove pivotal in the overall outcome of the race.
After his move on D’Alberto in the early laps, Wood set about chasing down Evans, who had already built a lead of over five seconds. Meanwhile, D’Alberto was holding his ground with an impressive defensive drive, as a train of cars began to stack up behind him.
Among the cars in that train was Jayden Ojeda in the Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, with the New South Welshman once again charging through the field from the back of the grid — mirroring his impressive Race One performance.
For the remainder of his stint, D’Alberto refused to relinquish third place, holding off pressure as Evans and Wood broke away from the pack, stretching their lead into almost unassailable territory.
When the Wall Racing driver eventually headed into the pits, it opened the door for the likes of Feeney, Ojeda, and Brendon Leitch to capitalise on clean air and clock in a strong lap.
However, by the time they all completed their pit stops, Evans had already created such a significant margin that Schutte rejoined in second place — despite serving a longer stop as a result of their Race One win.
Coming out more than seven seconds behind the new race leader in Brooks, it took Schutte just ten minutes to close him down before eventually making a move with six laps to go.
The West Australian would eventually reach the chequered flag comfortably ahead of Brooks – securing their third win in four races and giving the pair a healthy lead on the overall season standings.
Brooks did manage to enjoy an easy second place as Schumacher crossed the line almost nine seconds behind, while Ojeda’s co-driver Paul Lucchitti guided the Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG to fourth place, edging out Tim Miles in the MPC Audi R8 LMS EVO II he shares with Leitch by just half a second.
Schutte and Evans weren’t the only ones to enjoy a perfect weekend in their class, with Renee Gracie also securing back-to-back Am Cup victories in her Audi R8 LMS EVO II.
Gracie faced early pressure from the Black Wolf Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO of Ben Schoots and Shane Woodman, briefly surrendering the lead due to her extended pit stop time. However, much like Schutte, charged her way back into to reclaim the top spot in class.
In a late shake-up, the Mercedes-AMG ultimately finished third in class after being passed by the Tigani Motorsport Audi R8 LMS EVO II of James and Theo Koundouris.
GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS resumes next month at Queensland Raceway for the Shannons SpeedSeries’ GT Festival Queensland on May 30 – June 1.