Jayden Ojeda and Paul Lucchitti set the early pace at GT Festival The Bend on Friday morning, topping the timesheets in Practice 1.
Behind the wheel of the Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, Ojeda set an unbeaten benchmark of 1:45.609 late in his stint, before handing over to Lucchitti, who followed up with a string of consistent laps.
Finishing the session as second fastest were current Pro-Am leaders Jaxon Evans and Elliott Schutte in the Arise Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 with a time of 1:45.765, just one and a half tenths off the pace.
Current Pro-Am leaders Jaxon Evans and Elliott Schutte secured second place in the session, with their Arise Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 posting a 1:45.765, just one and a half tenths off the pace.
The Mercedes and Ferrari proved a cut above with the next best effort being that of Alex Peroni and Mark Rosser after the pair guided the Team BRM Audi R8 LMS Evo II to the third on the timesheets, just half a tenth off Evans and Schutte.
Peroni and Rosser led a trio of Audi R8 LMS Evo IIs inside the top five, with Pro-Am title contenders Broc Feeney and Brad Schumacher placing fourth, followed by their Melbourne Performance Centre teammates Ryan Wood and Steve Brooks in fifth.
While the Team BRM Audi R8 trailed the lead Mercedes-AMG by almost four tenths, the two Melbourne Performance Centre entries were far closer, Feeney and Schumacher just under one and a half tenths adrift, with Wood and Brooks a fraction over.
In the Am Class, class leader Renee Gracie convincingly topped the session as she ended up almost four tenths faster than title rivals Ben Schoots and Shane Woodman in the Black Wolf Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.
Gracie steered the Melbourne Performance Centre Audi R8 LMS Evo II to the top of the class for most of the session, putting her in good stead for claiming the class title this weekend.
James and Theo Koundouris rounded out the class top three, with the Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo posting a best time six tenths off the Black Wolf Motorsport entry.
Just behind the Koundouris was the Trophy class-leading Melbourne Performance Centre Audi R8 LMS Evo I of Matthew Stoupas and Gary Higgon.
Two more sessions remain for the day with GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS back on track at 1:10pm ACST.