McLaughlan seals title as Mostert stars in Macau

CHAZ Mostert impressed with fifth place in the FIA GT World Cup at Macau on the weekend, while Jamec-Pem Racing secured the Australian GT Trophy Series presented by Pirelli title at Wakefield Park in a busy weekend for GT racing. 

Supercars driver Chaz Mostert has finished fifth in a chaotic FIA GT World Cup, on his first visit to the Macau Grand Prix.

A suspected throttle problem hurt Mostert in qualifying, leaving him 19th in the 20-car field for Saturday’s qualification race.

That, however, meant he was able to stop his BMW M6 GT3 before joining a pile-up on the opening lap that claimed 12 cars.

Eight drivers lined up when the race was restarted more than an hour later and Mostert finished fifth.

“Obviously a lot of cars were involved in the accident and crashed out,” Mostert said.

“I was very lucky to stay out of the drama. It was good that I had some race laps afterwards. I feel I’m making improvements out there every lap.

“Overall I’m super happy. Saying I have a P5 from Macau is fantastic.”

In Sunday’s main race, which started in damp conditions, Mostert was running fourth until clouting a wall in the closing stages.

He lost a place to stablemate Augusto Farfus but was able to continue to cross the line fifth, ahead of FIST – Team AAI team-mate and two-time DTM champion Marco Wittmann.

Mercedes DTM driver Edoardo Mortara won the World Cup, his fourth victory in GT machinery at Macau, while Audi’s Robin Frijns and former Erebus Supercars driver Maro Engel rounded out the podium.

Mostert will be straight back into Supercars action on his return to Australia, with the Coates Hire Newcastle 500 starting on Friday.

Read more from what Mostert had to say about his Macau debut over at Supercars.com here.

Meanwhile at Wakefield Park in country New South Wales, Steve McLaughlan has wrapped up the 2017 CAMS Australian GT Trophy Series presented by Pirelli - the second time he's won the title.

McLaughlan entered the final round of the season at Wakefield Park holding a slender margin over fellow Audi driver Rod Salmon, the Valvoline Jamec Pem Racing driver eventually taking the crown by 189-points.

“We've got to be happy with that,” said McLaughlan after the final race at Wakefield Park.

“When you're racing against exactly the same car, it presents a level playing field. As we've seen with the Lamborghini, it's strong at some tracks and the Audi's strong on others. I couldn't be happier."

McLaughlan won the Trophy Class title in 2013, when it was run within the CAMS Australian GT Championship.

His efforts throughout 2017 saw the Audi driver claim six race wins, equalling the record set by Greg Taylor in 2016.

McLaughlan headed the title fight from the opening round of the year, holding that advantage courtesy of a near-perfect weekend at Winton where he scored 218 of the 220-points on offer.

Two more solid points rounds followed at Queensland Raceway and Phillip Island leaving the Valvoline Jamec Pem Racing driver in control of the points race heading to Wakefield Park.

In Challenge Modern, Mark Griffith sealed the title in his Griffith Corporation Ferrari F430 after a tense battle on the final day of competition.

Joining the class mid-season, Griffith proved a dominant force to score maximum points at Phillip Island before encountering stiff competition from John Nikolovski and Jamie Arratoon at Wakefield Park.

All three remained in contention heading into the final race of the year, with Griffith hanging on to record a second place which ensured him the title.

A former Trophy Class winner at the wheel of a Ginetta, it's Griffith’s second Australian GT title.