27 cars are set to take part in the 2017 CAMS Australian GT Championship’s opening round on the streets of Adelaide next month, the tenth time the world-famous street circuit has featured on its calendar.
Looking at the entry list, joining the local names on track are international factory drivers Côme Ledogar and Kelvin van der Linde.
Part of McLaren’s 2016 Blancpain Endurance Cup winning team, Ledogar made his Australian GT debut at Highlands at the end of 2016 taking a top-five finish in his first race. Ledogar will join Fraser Ross at the wheel of a McLaren 650S GT3, run by reigning CAMS Australian Endurance Championship-winning team Tekno Autosports. The other McLaren on the list is series regular Objective Racing, which as usual will see Tony Walls take on driving duties alone.
Meanwhile, 20-year-old van der Linde will share duties with Geoff Emery in the #74 Jamec Pem Audi R8 LMS as part of the German brand’s six-car entry. Despite his youth, van der Linde has already notched up a host of championship successes, including winning the ADAC GT Masters title in 2014.
The other R8 to look out for is that of Greg Taylor and Nathan Antunes, who are continuing their successful partnership with GT Motorsports.
They’ll go door-to-door with familiar names such as Craig Baird and Scott Taylor, who will share one of Scott Taylor Motorsport’s two Mercedes-AMG GT3s. Max Twigg will pilot the team’s second entry, rekindling a relationship with Mercedes that began in 2015.
In the BMW camp, former Bathurst 1000 winner Steve Richards will share the duties in the BMW Team SRM M6 GT3 with James Bergmuller, who will make his series debut this season.
Bentley is also represented here Heretic Autosport, motorsport legend John Bowe will be joined by former Bathurst 1000 racer Melinda Price.
Lamborghini is present too, with a total of eight cars set to line up for the opener. Jim Manolios and Dean Canto will share the Trofeo Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 in what will be the iconic car’s first competitive outing around the Adelaide Parklands circuit. The seven other entries, all Lamborghini R-EXs, headlined by the race-winning duo of Roger Lago and David Russell who will join forces once again.
Two Aston Martins and two Porsches round out the entry, with Darrell Lea entry and Miedecke Stone Motorsport entering Vantages and Walkinshaw and AMAC Motorsport fielding Porsches.
The Clipsal 500 marks the start of the five round 2017 CAMS Australian GT Championship, with three races across the weekend.
Entry list:
3 Bondi Wholefoods Audi R8 LMS Ash Samadi
4 McElrea Racing Lamborghini R-EX Tim Miles/Jaxon Evans
5 GT Motorsport Audi R8 LMS Greg Taylor/Nathan Antunes
7 Darrell Lea Aston Martin Vantage V12 Tony Quinn
8 Scott Taylor Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Max Twigg
9 Hallmarc Constrictios Audi R8 LMS Marc Cini
11 Objective Racing McLaren 650S GT3 Tony Walls
14 Peter Major Lamborghini R-EX Peter Major
18 Heretic Autosport Bentley Continental GT3 John Bowe/Melinda Price
19 Hogs Breath Café/Griffith Corporation Mercedes-AMG GT3 Mark Griffith
23 JBS Australia Lamborghini R-EX Roger Lago/David Russell
24 Miedecke Stone Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage V12 Tony Bates
29 Pirelli/Trofeo Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Jim Manolios/Dean Canto
44 Supabarn Supermarkets Audi R8 LMS James Koundouris/Ash Walsh
48 Interlloy M Motorsport Lamborghini R-EX Justin McMillan/Glen Wood
51 AMAC Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3-R Andrew Macpherson/Brad Shiels
59 Tekno Autosports McLaren 650S GT3 Fraser Ross/Côme Ledogar
73 Triffid.Bar.Venue Lamborghini R-EX Michael Hovey
74 Jamec Pem Racing Audi R8 LMS Geoff Emery/Kelvin van der Linde
75 Jamec Pem Racing Audi R8 LMS Steve McLaughlan
100 BMW Team SRM BMW M6 GT3 Steve Richards/James Bergmuller
222 Scott Taylor Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Scott Taylor/Craig Baird
777 The Bend Motorsport Park Lamborghini R-EX Yasser Shahin
911 Walkinshaw GT3 Porsche 911 GT3-R Liam Talbot
15 Veloce Motorsport – ULX110 Porsche GT3 Cup Car Keith Wong/Michael Almond
68 Michael O’Donnell Porsche GT3 Cup Car Michael O’Donnell
69 Koala Motorsport Lamborghini R-EX Brenton Griguol/Tim Macrow
