Australian GT: Success for MPC in New Zealand‏

Melbourne Performance Centre Press Release

Success for MPC in New Zealand
Rnd#6 2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli
Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell, NZ
8-10 November, 2013

Heading into the final round of the 2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli at the impressive new Highlands Motorsport Park circuit in New Zealand, the Melbourne Performance Centre team had a dilemma on their hands. Both of their Audi teams were in a position to claim the final step of the championship podium, although despite proving to be the stronger outfit during the early rounds of the season, Rod Salmon had lost his points lead to Dean Koutsoumidis last time out in Queensland and both teams had arrived ready for action.

For Salmon, he was once again joined by rising star Liam Talbot, whilst for Koutsoumidis he was back with long-time co-driver Andrew McInnes, and both teams were hungry for a result. 

After struggling to find consistency during the year, Salmon surprised everyone with his practice pace to be quicker than his ‘rookie’ team-mate, although he did give Talbot the keys for qualifying. Over in the Equity-One camp, Dean Koutsoumidis who had initially entered to drive a production car in the South Island Endurance Series season final, withdrew from the co-driver’s seat in that event admitting that the cars were just too different.

“I thought that extra miles on the circuit would be an advantage,” he admitted. “But with the big speed differential it wasn’t helping so I’ve elected to just concentrate on the Audi.”

That paid off handsomely in the end, the two Equity-One drivers separated by mere tenths during practice and qualifying, with McInness setting a time that was good enough for row four, right behind Talbot and right beside fellow MPC stable-mate Steve McLaughlan.

Koutsoumidis was scheduled to start the #71 Audi, whilst Talbot charged off the line in race one to trail Baird, Quinn, Bowe and Greg Murphy, the young Audi recruit never more than a car length from the established stars all the way to the scheduled stop.

Despite an 18 second lead as he hits the pits, Baird handed the reigns to the #1 Porsche to Klark Quinn and emerged from the pits just metres ahead of Salmon.

With a target to follow over the closing stages of the race, Salmon locked into a comfortable pace and kept Quinn within sight before the field was grouped once more behind the Safety Car. On the restart Salmon continued to attack, and amazingly, stole the lead from Quinn whose pace had dropped significantly.

Behind him V8 Supercar star Fabian Coulthard closed in in Tony Quinn’s Aston Martin, but despite throwing everything he could at Salmon, he was unable to close the gap before the flag, Salmon crossing the line to take an historic first victory in the Highlands venue’s very first race, and with it, his maiden victory in Australian GT against one of the most competitive fields in GT history.

“That’s fantastic,” Rod Salmon beamed afterwards. “That has to be one of the best wins of my career. I could see Coulthard coming, but I just focused on getting every apex right and making the most out of the Audi’s speed through the tight section of the circuit. 

“Liam had really set the foundations for that win, it couldn’t have played out any better.”

For team-mate Liam Talbot, he admitted that the enormity of the result still hadn’t hit him.

“Afterwards they told me it was the former Bathurst 1000 winner Greg Murphy behind the wheel of the McLaren, but I didn’t believe it,” Talbot admitted. “He was holding me up, and as we came towards the compulsory pit stop, I thought about making a move, but in the end just followed the pack down pit lane to hand over to Rod.”

Whilst there was jubilation in the #6 camp, there was frustration down in the #75 camp of Steve McLaughlan and Greg Crick after the mighty Viper rolled to a stop on lap eight.

“There was a bang, and something let go in the driveline, we’re not sure what it is yet, but hopefully we have the parts with us to fix it,” McLaughlan explained post-race.

The #71 team too were in high spirits after a strong run, McInnes crossing the line seventh to keep them in the race for the championship podium, although after a big points haul for race victor Rod Salmon, Dean Koutsoumidis knew that he’d have his work cut out for him in race two.

“Full credit to Rod and Liam, that’s a fantastic result. Look in all honesty, to be coming into the final round third in points is testament to the teams that have supported us this year and kept the car running consistently. Realistically with a three year old car we’re not outright contenders, but we’re always there, and seventh is a pretty good result for us against such a high quality field.”

Courtesy of his race one win, Salmon led the field away for the final race of the 2013 season, the dual Bathurst 12-Hour champion though was quickly overtaken by Fabian Coulthard in the Aston Martin, but despite falling a lap later to champion-elect Klark Quinn, he held on to third place ahead of a charging Andrew McInnes.

McInnes had monstered the cars in front of him off the start, and after forcing Peter Edwards in the Ferrari into a spin on the exit of the Karussel, he had inherited fourth place, and maintained the gap to Salmon in front of him up until the compulsory mid-race pit stop.

As the leaders dived to the pits McInnes put the #71 Audi in the box seat after punching out a succession of quick laps. With Baird catching him for second, he was pushing hard but 13 laps in he made a passing move on Michael Hovey’s Ginetta on the run into the final corner, and skated off on the exit, bogging the R8 in the kitty litter on the outside of the tight right-hander.

Many expected a Safety Car to be called, but race control elected for double yellow flags, allowing officials to recover the car, in the process losing valuable laps, the team retiring the car shortly after.

“I knew I shouldn’t have been on the slippery part of the circuit, but I thought I could pull it up in time,” a somber McInnes admitted. “It was my fault, I just didn’t have any grip. I’m more disappointed for Dean [Koutsoumidis] and the team because we were well in contention.”

Sadly for McInnes he was right. At the time he came off he was the closing on the race leader, and just a couple of laps from completing his stop, a stop that under CPS rules (adjusted relative to driver grading and starting position) would have seen them gain some 26 seconds in the pits over the leading pack.

“That’s the first time in two years that we’ve had a DNF, and I’m pretty annoyed about it to be honest.”

Whilst the challenge for the final step of the championship podium was over, Liam Talbot still needed to finish the race and hang on to his position inside the top three. He did that with ease, handing the Skwirk.com.au team not just a second podium, but second overall for the round behind race two winners Tony Quinn and Fabian Coulthard.

“That’s brilliant,” an elated Rod Salmon beamed. “It has been such a mixed year, but we’ve come good at the right time, and to finish the season in third place is full credit to the Melbourne Performance Centre team, and all our guys. It’s also great credit to the versatility of the Audi. This is a new circuit that nobody has ever competed on before, and against some of the best GT cars in the world, we’ve come through with a victory and a second podium, I couldn’t be happier. Bring on the 101!!”

After the disappointment of race one, Steve McLaughlan and Greg Crick recovered in race two to take ninth place and third in the GT Trophy class, but the result in the Championship had been all but decided prior to the final round, giving the #75 team the title for 2013.

“We were fortunate that the damage in race one was only the crown wheel (differential) and we had a spare ready to slot in,’ McLaughlan explained.

“The car ran faultlessly all the way to the flag, but starting rear of field gave our opposition a bit of an advantage. Cricky got the car well up the order before the stop, but afterwards the class leaders had the advantage so we just hung on to the end.

“I’m happy to have taken the title this year, and am really looking forward to defending it next year in the Audi because it sounds like we’ll have plenty of competition.”

Whilst that wrapped up the 2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli, the assembled GT regulars still had the ‘Highlands 101’ ahead of them, an invitational race over 101-laps that included all the series regulars against the top qualifying NZ South Island Endurance Series [SIES] regulars.

A field of 33 cars lined up for qualifying, which was scheduled just three hours ahead of the big race with the starting positions set by the fastest times set by each driver in the car combined.

For the #6 team, that meant someone would have to sit out and watch, as for the ‘101’ Salmon and Talbot had been joined by V8 Supercar star and 2014 Bathurst 12-Hour recruit Jason Bright.

Despite just six laps in the car, Bright was back in the pits suggesting modifications to the car to improve its pace. “It’s fantastic to drive, but it’s a little skaty under brakes at the rear end, so we made some adjustments and it’s much better. The track is fantastic, but pretty busy, so we’ll see how it plays out tomorrow. The big trick will be being there at the end.”

By the close of qualifying the #6 Audi was classified in P5, just a tenth off a second row start. The #71 entry qualified ninth behind a number of SIES regulars in their ‘hot-rod’ Porsches (SIES runs unlimited rules, so cars are open to engine and tyre modifcations), whilst the #75 Dodge would start from P13.

The start for the ‘101’ was a change from the norm for the GT regulars too, with a Le Mans style foot race to the cars by the co-drivers, but this was no cross circuit stroll, but instead a 250 metre sprint. In many cases that decided the starting order for the field - with Salmon taking the start in the Skwirk Audi, Koutsoumidis in the Equity-One Audi and McLaughlan in the Viper - leaving the second driver with the position of having to gain as much ground as he could off the start.

Talbot proved a handy sprinter, helping Salmon to move up a few spots immediately, whilst further back Koutsoumidis and McLaughlan held down positions mid-field.

The faster GT cars were soon through to the lead, with Salmon holding position as he had done during the two 40-minute GT races to be within striking distance of the leaders should anything go wrong.

The team played the strategy game early to pit Salmon who handed the reigns to Talbot as Koutsoumidis continued to punch out consistent laps and move up the order as the leaders started to pit and play the strategy game themselves.

A series of Safety Car periods to reclaim stranded cars mixed up the order, in the process dropping the #71 car down a lap.

Sadly for the McLaughlan/Crick Viper, it was out early after an electrical issue with the fuel pump robbed it of supply, the big Dodge rolling to a stop within metres of where it had finished the opening GT race.

“Up till then it was going like a train,” McLaughlan shrugged. “It’s one of those things that happens. The car’s fine, I’m sure it’s just a connection or a switch, but that’s it for us. Now it’s on to the Audi for next year - I’m really looking forward to that!”

As the race wore on, Jason Bright jumped behind the wheel of the Skwirk.com.au Audi and immediately gave notice that he’d be the man to watch. He quickly began to work his way through the field, at one stage frightening one of the SIES regulars by over taking him AND Greg Murphy on the Pirelli bridge - a two lane piece of circuit.

In the end he was unable to catch race leader Fabian Coulthard, but second for the Salmon/Talbot/Bright combination was good enough.

“I think I’m going to move here,” Rod Salmon laughed post-race. “How good is this track, how good is this venue. I know I’m biased after our win on Friday, but quite honestly this is one spectacular venue and the racing has been fantastic.

“I can’t thank our Melbourne Performance Centre team enough, and what a great couple of stints by Brighty and Liam to help cement the result. For us it has been a faultless weekend, and a win, a third and a second is more than we could have dreamt for coming in.

“Now it’s on to the Bathurst 12-Hour where we’ll be joined again by Warren Luff. I think we showed this weekend that we can be as competitive as the best of them, and with a few possible modifications to the car to bring it up to 2013 spec, we should be looking pretty good to kick the new year off with a high!”

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2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli
Qualifying [8 November] Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell, NZ

01. 1. Craig Baird - Porsche GT3-R [CHAMP] - 1:34.214
02. 7. Fabian Coulthard - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:34.471
03. 88. John Bowe - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:36.325
04. 101. Greg Murphy - McLaren MP4-12C GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:37.079
05. 6. Liam Talbot - Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra [CHAMP] - 1:37.843
06. 007. Andrew Waite - Aston Martin DBRS9 [TROPHY] - 1:37.942
07. 71. Andrew McInnes - Audi R8 LMS GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:39.885
08. 75. Steve McLaughlan - Dodge Viper Competition Coupé [TROPHY] - 1:41.149
09. Andrew McPherson - Porsche 997 Cup-S [TROPHY] - 1:41.456
10. 2. Andrew Taplin - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:41.532

2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli
Race#1 - 40-minutes [8 November] Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell, NZ
01. 6. Rod Salmon/Liam Talbot - Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra [CHAMP] - 22-laps
02. 7. Tony Quinn/Fabian Coulthard - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 [CHAMP]
03. 101. Greg Murphy/Neil Crompton - McLaren MP4-12C GT3 [CHAMP]
04. 1. Klark Quinn/Craig Baird - Porsche GT3-R [CHAMP]
05. 88. Peter Edwards/John Bowe - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [CHAMP]
06. 007. Andrew Waite/Simon Evans - Aston Martin DBRS9 [TROPHY]
07. 71. Koutsoumidis/McInnes - Audi R8 LMS GT3 [CHAMP]
08. Andrew McPherson/Ben Porter - Porsche 997 Cup-S [TROPHY] - 21-laps
09. 77. Jan Jinadasa - Lamborghini Gallardo LP520 [TROPHY]
10. 4. Ben Foessel/Michael Almond - Porsche 997 GT3 Cup [CHALLENGE]

DNF. 75. McLaughlan/Crick - Dodge Viper [TROPHY] - 8-laps

2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli
Race#2 - 40-minutes [9 November] Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell, NZ
01. 7. Tony Quinn/Fabian Coulthard - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 [CHAMP] - 24-laps
02. 1. Klark Quinn/Craig Baird - Porsche GT3-R [CHAMP]
03. 6. Rod Salmon/Liam Talbot - Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra [CHAMP]
04. 101. Greg Murphy/Neil Crompton - McLaren MP4-12C GT3 [CHAMP]
05. 88. Peter Edwards/John Bowe - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [CHAMP]
06. 007. Andrew Waite/Simon Evans - Aston Martin DBRS9 [TROPHY]
07. 2. Andrew Taplin - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [CHAMP] - 23-laps
08. Andrew McPherson/Ben Porter - Porsche 997 Cup-S [TROPHY]
09. 75. McLaughlan/Crick - Competition Coupé [TROPHY]
10. 77. Jan Jinadasa - Lamborghini Gallardo LP520 [TROPHY]

DNF. 71. Koutsoumidis/McInnes - Audi R8 LMS [CHAMP] - 13-laps

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2013 Highlands 101
Qualifying [10 November] Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell, NZ
01. 1. Klark Quinn/Craig Baird - Porsche GT3-R [AGT] - 1:35.291
02. 101. Murphy/Crompton - McLaren MP4-12C GT3 [AGT] - 1:36.051
03. 7. Tony Quinn/Coulthard - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 [AGT] - 1:36.217
04. 88. Peter Edwards/John Bowe - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [AGT] - 1:37.129
05. 6. Talbot/Bright - Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra [AGT] - 1:37.299
06. 2. Andrew Taplin/Dean Canto - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [AGT] - 1:37.918
07. 007. Andrew Waite/Simon Evans - Aston Martin DBRS9 [AGT] - 1:38.078
08. 99. Armstrong/Hamilton - Porsche GT3 Cup [SIERC] - 1:39.853
09. 71. Koutsoumidis/McInnes - Audi R8 LMS GT3 [AGT] - 1:40.028
10. 82. Bagnall/Pederson - Porsche GT3 Cup [SIERC] - 1:40.078
13. 75. McLaughlan/Crick - Competition Coupé [AGT] - 1:41.533

2013 Highlands 101
Race -101-laps [10 November] Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell, NZ
01. 7. Tony Quinn/Coulthard - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 [AGT] - 101-laps
02. 6. Salmon/Talbot/Bright - Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra [AGT] +34.1-secs
03. 88. Peter Edwards/John Bowe - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [AGT] +81-secs
04. 2. Andrew Taplin/Dean Canto - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [AGT] - 100-laps
05. 101. Greg Murphy/Neil Crompton - McLaren MP4-12C GT3 [AGT]
06. 007. Andrew Waite/Simon Evans - Aston Martin DBRS9 [AGT]
07. 99. Armstrong/Hamilton - Porsche GT3 Cup [SIERC] - 99-laps
08. 70. McFarlane/Bushell - Porsche GT3-R [SIERC] - 98-laps
09. 71. Koutsoumidis/McInnes - Audi R8 LMS GT3 [AGT] - 97-laps
10. 9. Ellingham/McIntyre - Porsche GT3 Cup [SIERC]

DNF. 75. Steve McLaughlan/Greg Crick - Competition Coupé [AGT] - 21-laps

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2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli
Championship points (after six rounds of six)

GT Championship
1. Klark Quinn (627 points), 2. Tony Quinn (523), 3. Rod Salmon (352), 4. John Bowe (334), 5. Dean Koutsoumidis (305), 6. Greg Murphy (301), 7. Peter Edwards (252), 8. Roger Lago (234), 9. Liam Talbot (224), 10. Craig Baird/Jack Le Brocq (220), 11. Justin McMillan (195), 12. Andrew McInnes(183)

GT Trophy
1. Steve McLaughlan (308 points), 2. Jan Jinadasa (220), 3. Graham Lusty (134), 4. Andrew Waite/Simon Evans (110), 5. Jordan Ormsby (102)

Keep track of the Australian GT  Championship presented by Pirelli via the AGT website - www.australiangt.com.au and via Facebook; AustralianGT

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Melbourne Performance Centre is proudly supported by Skwirk.com.au, One World Bar, Equity-One, Primus Australia, Companion Brands, The Audi Race Experience, PH Motorsport Trailers - supplier of the new Audi Sports Customer racing transporter, BluFi Wireless Australia, Questek Australia, Top Gun Restorations and Wrap my Ride.

Photo credit: Melbourne Performance Centre

Australian GT: Strong season for Equity-One in Australian GT‏

Equity-One Motorsport Press Release

Strong season for Equity-One in Australian GT
Rnd#6 2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli
Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell, NZ
8-10 November, 2013

After claiming the 2012 Australian GT Trophy Class title, Equity-One Motorsport’s Dean Koutsoumidis and Andrew McInnes graduated to the championship class for 2013, and despite campaigning a 2011 model Audi R8 LMS, they found themselves in a fight for the final step of the championship podium heading into the last round at the new Highlands Motorsport Park circuit in New Zealand.

“It has been a fantastic season, and frankly, I’m surprised to be in the position we are heading into New Zealand,” Koutsoumidis admitted pre-event.

He was even more surprised when he arrived in the ‘land of the long white cloud’, after being asked to take part in a pre-event promotion. “Sure I said, full of confidence.. then they explained we were bungy jumping and throwing ourselves out of an aeroplane.. doh.”

Fortunately the bungy jumping was replaced with teeing off [golf] from the top of the iconic Remarkables mountain range, before jetboat riding down one of the many dramatic south island rivers, then go karting at Highlands before jumping out of a plane in a tandem jump with an experienced instructor. “I now understand the meaning of fear,” he grinned afterwards. “It was a great experience and added a completely different flavor to the event.”

Koutsoumidis had another surprise offer pre-event, with former team-boss Bruin Beasley [Minda Motorsport] inviting him to join him in the South Island Endurance Series 3-Hour race in a Renault production car. After completing opening practice, he decided though that the value of extra miles would be negated by the big speed differential between the Audi and the Renault.

“I thought that extra miles on the circuit would be an advantage,” he admitted. “But with the big speed differential it wasn’t helping so I’ve elected to just concentrate on the Audi.”

That paid off handsomely in the end, the two Equity-One drivers separated by mere tenths during practice and qualifying, with McInnes setting a time that was good enough for the inside of row four, right behind Melbourne Performance Centre [MPC] team-mate Liam Talbot and right beside fellow MPC stable-mate Steve McLaughlan.

Koutsoumidis took the opening stint in car #71, and he hung onto the tail of the leading pack before stopping mid-race for his compulsory pit stop [CPS] to hand over to McInnes who charged through his stint to cross the line in seventh place.

Despite being in high spirits after yet another competitive run, they also knew that with podium rival Rod Salmon winning the opening race that they’d have their work cut out for them in race two.

“Full credit to Rod and Liam, that’s a fantastic result,” Koutsoumidis admitted. “Look in all honesty, to be coming into the final round third in points is testament to the teams that have supported us this year and kept the car running consistently. Realistically with a three year old car we’re not outright contenders, but we’re always there, and seventh is a pretty good result for us against such a high quality field.”

Off the fourth row again for the start of race two, McInnes immediately applied pressure, moving onto the tail of Peter Edwards in the Ferrari 458 as they fired under the Pirelli bridge, the Equity-One/Biowrap.com.au Audi pilot taking a big dive down the inside of Edwards on the run into the Karussell. That put Edwards off line, the Ferrari driver spinning as a result allowing McInnes through to pursue the leading trio.

As the leaders dived to the pits mid-race for their CPS McInnes put the #71 Audi in the box seat after punching out a succession of quick laps. With Craig Baird catching him in the #1 Porsche for second, he continued to push hard but 13 laps in he made a passing move on Michael Hovey’s Ginetta on the run into the final corner, and skated off on the exit, bogging the R8 in the kitty litter on the outside of the tight right-hander.

Many expected a Safety Car to be called, but race control elected for double yellow flags, allowing officials to recover the car, in the process losing valuable laps, the team retiring the car shortly after.

“I knew I shouldn’t have been on the slippery part of the circuit, but I thought I could pull it up in time,” a somber McInnes admitted. “It was my fault, I just didn’t have any grip. I’m more disappointed for Dean and the team because we were well in contention.”

Sadly for McInnes he was right. At the time he came off he was closing on the race leader, and just a couple of laps from completing his stop, a stop that under CPS rules (adjusted relative to driver grading and starting position) would have seen them gain some 26 seconds in the pits over the leading pack.

“That’s the first time in two years that we’ve had a DNF, and I’m pretty annoyed about it to be honest.”

With Salmon claiming his second podium result in two days, the final step of the podium went to their MPC team-mate, but despite the unfortunate end to their 2013 Australian GT campaign, the Equity-One/Biowrap.com.au Audi team were in good spirits.

“If you’d said to me at the start of the year that we’d be battling for podium results I’d have been surprised,” Koutsoumidis admitted. “It’s testament to the work that Minda and MPC have done with the car, and also Andrew’s efforts have been first class, not just as a co-driver, but as a team-mate, his performance has certainly lifted mine and given me a great bench mark to drive to. Having Timmy Macrow in the car at QR helped too, and that really pushed me to step up again as a driver. All in all, I’m very happy with the way our season played out, but it’s not over yet, now we get a chance to make amends for the DNF with the Highlands 101 tomorrow..!”

Whilst race two wrapped up the 2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli, the assembled GT regulars still had the ‘Highlands 101’ ahead of them, an invitational race over 101-laps that included all the GT series regulars against the top qualifying NZ South Island Endurance Series [SIES] regulars.

A field of 33 cars lined up for qualifying, which was scheduled just three hours ahead of the big race with the starting positions set by the fastest times set by each driver in the car combined.

By the close of qualifying the #71 Audi had qualified ninth behind a number of SIES regulars in their ‘hot-rod’ Porsches (SIES runs unlimited rules, so cars are open to engine and tyre modifications), and with a Le Mans style foot race for the co-drivers set to start the cars from pit-lane, Koutsoumidis elected to start giving McInnes a 250-metre fitness test ahead of his first stint in the car.

Whilst some of the slower qualifying cars with quick young sprinters as co-drivers gained the early advantage, the faster GT cars were soon through to the lead of the race, with Koutsoumidis moving well inside the top ten before his first stop.

Some teams elected to play the strategy game, pitting when the Safety Car was out on circuit, however the Equity-One/Biowrap.com.au Audi stayed out to run to a schedule, although sadly that decision played against them with the Safety Car dropping them down a lap more than once.

In the end the two GT series regulars held on for a ninth place finish, behind race winner Tony Quinn and his V8 Supercar winning co-driver Fabian Coulthard, whilst MPC team-mates Rod Salmon and Liam Talbot - who were also joined by V8 Supercar regular Jason Bright - claimed second.

“That was a tough race with all the traffic and the Safety Cars, but the Audi performed faultlessly again,” Koutsoumidis acknowledged. “That’s now the completion of an amazing year that included some fantastic results, and again, very few issues. That race two DNF by Andrew was the first time we’ve failed to finish in two years, but the car came back to the pits without a scratch, so we’ve almost got a perfect record.

“Next season it looks like we’ll drop back to the Trophy Class now that the Audi will be four seasons old, and there we’ll have some pretty serious competition, but we won’t be looking for a podium result at the end of the year, we’ll be looking for that championship trophy, so look out!

“We have to say a big thanks to all the people that have helped us this year, from the team at MPC and Minda Motorsport, to the series organisers, our long-term sponsors, our new partnerBiowrap.com.au and our MPC team-mates. You shouldn’t be allowed to have this much fun in one season of racing, now it’s time to have a break and become human again before all the nonsense starts again next March!”

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2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli
Qualifying [8 November] Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell, NZ

01. 1. Craig Baird - Porsche GT3-R [CHAMP] - 1:34.214
02. 7. Fabian Coulthard - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:34.471
03. 88. John Bowe - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:36.325
04. 101. Greg Murphy - McLaren MP4-12C GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:37.079
05. 6. Liam Talbot - Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra [CHAMP] - 1:37.843
06. 007. Andrew Waite - Aston Martin DBRS9 [TROPHY] - 1:37.942
07. 71. Andrew McInnes - Audi R8 LMS GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:39.885
08. 75. Steve McLaughlan - Dodge Viper Competition Coupé [TROPHY] - 1:41.149
09. Andrew McPherson - Porsche 997 Cup-S [TROPHY] - 1:41.456
10. 2. Andrew Taplin - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:41.532

2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli
Race#1 - 40-minutes [8 November] Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell, NZ
01. 6. Rod Salmon/Liam Talbot - Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra [CHAMP] - 22-laps
02. 7. Tony Quinn/Fabian Coulthard - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 [CHAMP]
03. 101. Greg Murphy/Neil Crompton - McLaren MP4-12C GT3 [CHAMP]
04. 1. Klark Quinn/Craig Baird - Porsche GT3-R [CHAMP]
05. 88. Peter Edwards/John Bowe - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [CHAMP]
06. 007. Andrew Waite/Simon Evans - Aston Martin DBRS9 [TROPHY]
07. 71. Koutsoumidis/McInnes - Audi R8 LMS GT3 [CHAMP]
08. Andrew McPherson/Ben Porter - Porsche 997 Cup-S [TROPHY] - 21-laps
09. 77. Jan Jinadasa - Lamborghini Gallardo LP520 [TROPHY]
10. 4. Ben Foessel/Michael Almond - Porsche 997 GT3 Cup [CHALLENGE]

2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli
Race#2 - 40-minutes [9 November] Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell, NZ
01. 7. Tony Quinn/Fabian Coulthard - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 [CHAMP] - 24-laps
02. 1. Klark Quinn/Craig Baird - Porsche GT3-R [CHAMP]
03. 6. Rod Salmon/Liam Talbot - Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra [CHAMP]
04. 101. Greg Murphy/Neil Crompton - McLaren MP4-12C GT3 [CHAMP]
05. 88. Peter Edwards/John Bowe - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [CHAMP]
06. 007. Andrew Waite/Simon Evans - Aston Martin DBRS9 [TROPHY]
07. 2. Andrew Taplin - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [CHAMP] - 23-laps
08. Andrew McPherson/Ben Porter - Porsche 997 Cup-S [TROPHY]
09. 75. McLaughlan/Crick - Competition Coupé [TROPHY]
10. 77. Jan Jinadasa - Lamborghini Gallardo LP520 [TROPHY]

DNF. 71. Koutsoumidis/McInnes - Audi R8 LMS [CHAMP] - 13-laps

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2013 Highlands 101
Qualifying [10 November] Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell, NZ
01. 1. Klark Quinn/Craig Baird - Porsche GT3-R [AGT] - 1:35.291
02. 101. Murphy/Crompton - McLaren MP4-12C GT3 [AGT] - 1:36.051
03. 7. Tony Quinn/Coulthard - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 [AGT] - 1:36.217
04. 88. Peter Edwards/John Bowe - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [AGT] - 1:37.129
05. 6. Talbot/Bright - Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra [AGT] - 1:37.299
06. 2. Andrew Taplin/Dean Canto - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [AGT] - 1:37.918
07. 007. Andrew Waite/Simon Evans - Aston Martin DBRS9 [AGT] - 1:38.078
08. 99. Armstrong/Hamilton - Porsche GT3 Cup [SIERC] - 1:39.853
09. 71. Koutsoumidis/McInnes - Audi R8 LMS GT3 [AGT] - 1:40.028
10. 82. Bagnall/Pederson - Porsche GT3 Cup [SIERC] - 1:40.078

2013 Highlands 101
Race -101-laps [10 November] Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell, NZ
01. 7. Tony Quinn/Coulthard - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 [AGT] - 101-laps
02. 6. Salmon/Talbot/Bright - Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra [AGT] +34.1-secs
03. 88. Peter Edwards/John Bowe - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [AGT] +81-secs
04. 2. Andrew Taplin/Dean Canto - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [AGT] - 100-laps
05. 101. Greg Murphy/Neil Crompton - McLaren MP4-12C GT3 [AGT]
06. 007. Andrew Waite/Simon Evans - Aston Martin DBRS9 [AGT]
07. 99. Armstrong/Hamilton - Porsche GT3 Cup [SIERC] - 99-laps
08. 70. McFarlane/Bushell - Porsche GT3-R [SIERC] - 98-laps
09. 71. Koutsoumidis/McInnes - Audi R8 LMS GT3 [AGT] - 97-laps
10. 9. Ellingham/McIntyre - Porsche GT3 Cup [SIERC] 

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2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli
Championship points (after six rounds of six)

GT Championship
1. Klark Quinn (627 points), 2. Tony Quinn (523), 3. Rod Salmon (352), 4. John Bowe (334), 5. Dean Koutsoumidis (305), 6. Greg Murphy (301), 7. Peter Edwards (252), 8. Roger Lago (234), 9. Liam Talbot (224), 10. Craig Baird/Jack Le Brocq (220), 11. Justin McMillan (195), 12. Andrew McInnes (183)

Keep track of the Australian GT  Championship presented by Pirelli via the AGT website - www.australiangt.com.au and via Facebook; AustralianGT

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Australian GT: Audi triumph in NZ‏

Melbourne Performance Centre Press Release

Audi triumph in maiden race at Highlands Motorsport Park
Rnd#6 2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli
Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell, NZ
9 November, 2013

The Melbourne Performance Centre team had enjoyed a mixed season during the 2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli, but during the final round of the at the new state-of-the-art Highlands Motorsport Park in New Zealand’s south island, it all came together.

Joined by rookie driver Liam Talbot for the second time in two rounds, Audi R8 regular Rod Salmon - a two-time Bathurst 12-Hour winner - won the very first race at the new circuit after weathering a storm unleashed by some of the region’s leading V8 Supercar drivers.

The foundations of the team’s maiden win was set in qualifying after a sterling effort by rookie Liam Talbot, his 1:37.843 enough to give the team the fifth placed starting position - the 2012 ultra the first non 2013-spec GT3 car in the field.

Off the fifth row, Talbot started the car, quickly locking onto a train of cars battling over second position, including the McLaren MP4-12C of Greg Murphy.

“Afterwards they told me it was the former Bathurst 1000 winner behind the wheel, but I didn’t believe it,” Talbot admitted. “He was holding me up, and as we came towards the compulsory pit stop, I thought about making a move, but in the end just followed the pack down pit lane to hand over to Rod.”

By virtue of the seedings of their professional co-drivers, the bulk of the cars in front of the Skwirk.com.au Audi were forced to stop for longer as the category parity adjustments came into play, Salmon rejoining immediately behind race leader Klark Quinn.

A late race Safety Car period to recover a car that had caught fire allowed the field to bunch up, Salmon still holding second was placed perfectly for the restart.

Almost immediately once the Safety Car withdrew from the circuit, Salmon found his way past the ailing VIP Petfoods Porsche which was suffering a slowly deflating tyre. 

With one of New Zealand’s best V8 Supercar drivers in hot pursuit in a 2013 Aston Martin Vantage, Salmon held his own, putting in one of the best drives of the year to hold Supercar star Fabian Coulthard at bay to take one of the most popular wins of the season.

“How good’s that,” Salmon beamed. “I could see Coulthard coming, but I just focused on getting every apex right and making the most out of the Audi’s speed through the tight section of the circuit. 

“Liam had really set the foundations for that win, it couldn’t have played out any better.”

Whilst Salmon and Talbot celebrated victory, stable-mates Dean Koutsoumidis and Andrew McInnes were enjoying their own quiet celebration after claiming seventh outright in the Equity-One/Biowrap.com.au Audi R8 LMS, although the mood was a little more subdued, with Salmon’s victory vaulting him above Koutsoumidis in the race for the final step on the championship podium.

“There’s still one race to go,” Dean Koutsoumidis was quick to remind his team-mates.. and his warning very nearly proved prophetic…

By virtue of their race one victory, the orange Audi held the advantage off the start of race two, leading the Aston through the opening ‘bus-stop’ chicane before being relegated to second.

Salmon did everything in his power to keep the field at bay, but ultimately fell to the hard charging Porsche of champion elect Klark Quinn.

Behind him Andrew McInnes was on a mission, moving through the field to be fourth and in pursuit of his R8 team-mate within a handful of laps.

“I knew I had to get close to Rod [Salmon] to keep the championship points battle alive, so I did what I could to get through the pack as quickly as possible.”

Salmon - along with the race leaders - were first to make their compulsory pit stops leaving McInnes in control at the front of the field. He pressed on and held a huge advantage as his time to pit approached, but he was sadly unable to press his advantage after a late braking move on a back marker, the Equity-One Audi ultimately bogged in the gravel trap on the exit of the final corner.

Many expected a Safety Car to be called to extract the R8, but race control elected for double yellow flags, allowing officials to recover the car, in the process losing valuable laps, the team retiring the car shortly after.

“I knew I shouldn’t have been on the slippery part of the circuit, but I thought I could pull it up in time,” a somber McInnes admitted. “It was my fault, I just didn’t have any grip. I’m more disappointed for Dean [Koutsoumidis] and the team because we were well in contention.”

Despite the setback, the MPC team were able to continue their celebrations with Liam Talbot working his way through to third place after the compulsory stop and with it, enough points to classify the Skwirk.com.au Audi second overall for the event, and third for the championship.

“That’s brilliant,” an elated Rod Salmon beamed. “It has been such a mixed year, but we’ve come good at the right time, and to finish the season in third place is full credit to the Melbourne Performance Centre team, and all our guys. It’s also great credit to the versatility of the Audi. This is a new circuit that nobody has ever competed on before, and against some of the best GT cars in the world, we’ve come through with a victory and a second podium, I couldn’t be happier.”

Whilst that would have been more than enough to celebrate on a weekend with so much to offer, the Melbourne Performance Centre found another reason to celebrate after the inaugural ‘Highlands 101’ event, a 101-lap ‘enduro’ around the 4.1-kilometre Highlands circuit. The ‘invitational’ event saw the Australian GT regulars combined with some of New Zealand’s fastest saloon cars in an ‘all-in’ battle for Highlands supremacy.

After just over three hours, the Skwirk R8 ultra with V8 Supercar regular Jason Bright joining Salmon and Talbot again worked its way forward to claim second behind the Aston Martin Vantage of circuit owner Tony Quinn and Fabian Coulthard, whilst team-mates Koutsoumidis and McInnes put in a solid drive to claim ninth at the line.

“We got caught out by the Safety Car at one point, and that put us down the order as a result and a little out of sequence, so it was a hard run from there. Dean also suffered a little from a failure with getting any fluid from the drink bottle, so we had to make an unexpected stop to throw me back in the car,” McInnes admitted.

2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli

Qualifying [8 November] Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell, NZ

01. 1. Craig Baird - Porsche GT3-R [CHAMP] - 1:34.214
02. 7. Fabian Coulthard - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:34.471
03. 88. John Bowe - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:36.325
04. 101. Greg Murphy - McLaren MP4-12C GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:37.079
05. 6. Liam Talbot - Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra [CHAMP] - 1:37.843
06. 007. Andrew Waite - Aston Martin DBRS9 [TROPHY] - 1:37.942
07. 71. Andrew McInnes - Audi R8 LMS GT3 [CHAMP] - 1:39.885

Race#1 - 40-minutes [8 November] 

01. 6. Rod Salmon/Liam Talbot - Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra [CHAMP] - 22-laps
02. 7. Tony Quinn/Fabian Coulthard - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 [CHAMP]
03. 101. Greg Murphy/Neil Crompton - McLaren MP4-12C GT3 [CHAMP]
04. 1. Klark Quinn/Craig Baird - Porsche GT3-R [CHAMP]
05. 88. Peter Edwards/John Bowe - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [CHAMP]
06. 007. Andrew Waite/Simon Evans - Aston Martin DBRS9 [TROPHY]
07. 71. Dean Koutsoumidis/Andrew McInnes - Audi R8 LMS GT3 [CHAMP]

Race#2 - 40-minutes [9 November] 

01. 7. Tony Quinn/Fabian Coulthard - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 [CHAMP] - 24-laps
02. 1. Klark Quinn/Craig Baird - Porsche GT3-R [CHAMP]
03. 6. Rod Salmon/Liam Talbot - Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra [CHAMP]
04. 101. Greg Murphy/Neil Crompton - McLaren MP4-12C GT3 [CHAMP]
05. 88. Peter Edwards/John Bowe - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 [CHAMP]

DNF. 71. Dean Koutsoumidis/Andrew McInnes - Audi R8 LMS [CHAMP] - 13-laps

Highlands 101 [10 November] 

01. 7. Tony Quinn/Fabian Coulthard - Aston Martin Vantage GT3 - 101-laps
02. 6. Rod Salmon/Liam Talbot - Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra
03. 88. Peter Edwards/John Bowe - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
04. 2. Andrew Taplin/Dean Canto - Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 - 100-laps
05. 101. Greg Murphy/Neil Crompton - McLaren MP4-12C

09. 71. Dean Koutsoumidis/Andrew McInnes - Audi R8 LMS [CHAMP] - 97-laps

Keep track of round three of the Australian GT  Championship presented by Pirelli via the AGT website - www.australiangt.com.au and via Facebook; AustralianGT

Photo credit: Australian GT [John Morris - mpix]

Highlands 101: Runner-up finish for Salmon/MPC Audi in New Zealand enduro

By Johan Laubscher

The Highlands 101 concluded the race weekend at Highlands Motorsport Park in New Zealand. Two Audis were entered for the three hour endurance race on Sunday.

The 2013 Australian GT Championship concluded with its finale at Highlands, hosting races one and two on Friday and Saturday. A special non-championship race was scheduled for Sunday, the Highlands 101, and many of the Australian GT competitors took part in this hundred and one lap endurance race.

Both Audis that were entered for the Australian GT races were also entered for the Highlands 101. Melbourne Performance Centre fielded the two cars for their customers. The #6 Audi R8 LMS ultra was driven by car-owner, Rod Salmon, and his co-drivers, Liam Talbot and Jason Bright. The #71 Equity-One Motorsport Audi R8 LMS had Dean Koustoumidis and Andrew McInnes behind the wheel. 

Qualifying was held early on Sunday morning and the highest placed Audi was the #6 Audi R8 LMS ultra in fifth place. The #71 R8 LMS qualified ninth.

The race featured an interesting starting procedure, said to be a modern take on the traditional Le Mans style start of years past. The competitors left the grid for two warm up laps, after which they headed back into the pits and parked in front of the garages in starting order, angled for exiting their pit-slot. The starting drivers all stayed inside of their vehicles and their teammates where lined up on the opposite side of the circuit. The drivers then ran to their cars and grabbed a ribbon that was attached to the rear of the car. Once the ribbon had been grabbed the individual cars were waved off with their pit lane speed limiters engaged. The racing began when they exited the pits in their release order based on the running start.

After the eventful starting procedure the race got underway. The #6 Audi R8 LMS ultra crew had progressed well during the race and were inside of the top three during the closing stages. They tried to close the gap to the leaders, but ultimately they finished second behind the race winning #7 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Fabian Coulthard and Tony Quinn. This rounded out an excellent weekend for the #6 MPC Audi, as Rod Salmon and Liam Talbot won the first Australian GT race and finished third in the second - and then the pair was joined by Jason Bright to finish second in the Highlands 101 on Sunday. The #71 Equity-One Motorsport Audi R8 LMS of Dean Koustoumidis and Andrew McInnes finished ninth in the Highlands 101.

Highlights from the race can be watched below. Video produced by Other Side Productions:

Photo credit: Australian GT

Highlands 101: MPC make surprise driver announcement ahead of NZ

Melbourne Performance Centre Press Release

MPC make surprise driver announcement ahead of NZ
Melbourne Performance Centre Audi R8 LMS ultra
Rnd#6 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli
Highlands Motorsport Park, NZ (November 8-10)

The Melbourne Performance Centre [MPC] team has made a surprise eleventh hour addition to their driver lineup for the double-header Australian GT/Highlands 101 event in New Zealand next weekend, revealing that 2014 Bathurst 12-Hour recruit Jason Bright will join them for the Highlands 101 enduro for some valuable miles in the Skwirk.com.au Audi R8.

“It was very much a last minute deal put together by MPC, but important ahead of next year’s 12-Hour,” car owner Rod Salmon confirmed.

“It’s ideal for me,” Bright agreed. “It’s valuable laps in the car ahead of next year’s 12-Hour, so it’s important to do it.

“Unfortunately by not doing the AGT race [Salmon and team-mate Liam Talbot are already scheduled to share the car in the two 40-minute AGT races], I won’t get any laps till qualifying on Sunday ahead of the race, but it won’t be the car I’ll need to worry about, it will be learning the circuit.

“I’ve seen footage of the track, and it looks fantastic - very busy. There’s nothing like throwing yourself in the deep end, but I’m sure by the end of the race I’ll be comfortable in the car and that will be important ahead of the 12-Hour.”

“It was too good an opportunity to pass up,” Salmon admitted.

“We’re committed to the 12-Hour campaign, and have a great driver lineup, so this will only further our progression by having Jason up to speed in advance.”

As for Salmon and Talbot, they too have been doing valuable preparation ahead of the final round of the championship on a simulator in Sydney.

“Liam and I have been going to Race Centre in Darling Harbour to log some laps on the Highlands circuit,” Salmon explained.

“I know it’s not the same as being there, but I’m glad I did it, it gives me a good idea of what to expect. James Winslow has been with me coaching me along the way which has been good, and he’s given me a few tips on how to approach those tricky corners - and there are a number of tricky corners.

“In the end I got down to a 1:31 [Craig Baird’s lap record set in the Tony Quinn McLaren MP4-12C is set at 1:41.90] which I thought was pretty good, but I have to admit I cheated.. I used a Ferrari F1 car.. (laughs).

“The Audi they used in the simulator was an old car, and it didn’t feel quite right, so James suggested the F1 car, because for most of the simulators a lot of work has gone into setting the F1 cars up properly, so they really handle well. At the end of the day I wanted an idea of how the circuit felt and I think that can only help.

“It looks very tight, and there doesn’t appear to be a lot of overtaking opportunities so qualifying is going to be critical.

“There’s five or six of us in the hunt for third in the championship as well, so we’ll be working hard to be quick, but also keep our noses clean. The fast way around Highlands if the simulator is to be believed is to really ride the kerbs, and kerb compliance is one of the strong points in the Audi, so we could well be in the box seat.

“I’ll have my eyes on in Cromwell, I have to beat my team-mate Dean Koutsoumidis and the Bowe/Edwards combination in order to grab the final step on the championship podium, and I’m pretty pumped up. Bring it on!”

MPC will have a busy weekend ahead of them at Highlands, managing the #6 Skwirk.com.au R8 LMS ultra of Salmon/Talbot/Bright along with the #71 Equity-One R8 LMS of Dean Koutsoumidis/Andrew McInnes, and assisting with the Dodge Viper Competition Coupé of Steve McLaughlan and former car owner Greg Crick.

SCHEDULE (NZDT)

Friday, 8 November
Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli 
Practice #1 - 9:30am (20-minutes)
Practice #2 - 11:35am (30-minutes)
Qualifying - 2:00pm (40-minutes)
Race #1 - 3:45pm (40-minutes)

Saturday, 9 November
Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli 
Warm-up - 9:25am (20-minutes)
Race #2 - 12:20pm (40-minutes)

Sunday, 10 November
Highlands 101 (Qualifying) - 9:25am (40-minutes)
Highlands 101 (Race) - 1:25pm (101-laps)

Melbourne Performance Centre is proudly supported by Skwirk.com.au, One World Bar, The Audi Race Experience, PH Motorsport Trailers - supplier of the new Audi Sports Customer racing transporter, BluFi Wireless Australia and Questek Australia.

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