Jaxon Evans delivered a moment of magic in Practice 2 to top the timesheets for GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS’ second session of GT Festival The Bend.
Taking over from Elliott Schutte in the Arise Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, Evans left his best until last, edging out the Team BRM Audi R8 LMS Evo II of Alex Peroni and Mark Rosser to claim top spot by the narrowest of margins.
With Rosser looking poised to finish the session on top after a strong lap from Alex Peroni, Evans produced a late flyer of 1:46.791, to edge the Audi by less than a hundredth of a second, setting the stage for an intriguing Pre-Qualifying later this afternoon.
Highlighting the intensity of the competition, Ryan Wood and Steve Brooks placed third in the Melbourne Performance Centre Audi R8 LMS Evo II, just three hundredths behind Peroni and Rosser, leaving less than half a tenth covering the top three crews
Earlier in the session, Wood clocked his best lap of 1:46.836 just six laps into his stint, briefly replacing Evans at the top of the timesheets before Peroni moved ahead with his fastest run.
The second Arise Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 concluded Practice 2 in fourth, with Jordan Love and Steve Wyatt two tenths behind Wood and Brooks, while Melbourne Performance Centre’s Broc Feeney and Brad Schumacher guided their Audi R8 LMS Evo II to fifth, only a further two hundredths off the Ferrari.
Their Melbourne Performance Centre teammate Renee Gracie continued to shine in the Am Class, topping the times by nearly a second and a half over Grant Donaldson, who is piloting the 111 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo solo this weekend.
Gracie’s 1:48.144 not only secured her the Am Class benchmark, but also placed her eighth outright — narrowly ahead of Practice 1 pace-setters Jayden Ojeda and Paul Lucchitti in the Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.
Fellow Tigani Motorsport drivers James and Theo Koundouris steered their Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo to third in the Am Class, while Matthew Stoupas and Gary Higgon secured Trophy Class honours in the Melbourne Performance Centre Audi R8 LMS Evo I.
One more session remains for the category, with Pre-Qualifying at 3:25pm ACST.