Race 1
Race 2
Race 3
Race 4
Race 5
Points Table
Round 1 - Mornington Park- 6/8/24
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Mal O'May
3rd - Dave Schofield
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Mal O'May
3rd - Dave Schofield
Round 1 - Report
With the completion of the NSR F1 series, we move onto an even faster, more competitive series (if that’s possible) with the very open Gt World Challenge (Australia) series. With rules that are very generous, the series allows a great variety of cars to meet the specs & this has seen a few new & interesting models come into the mix this year.
The new NSR Corvette of Phil being one of the most anticipated, and much interest surrounds the performance of this car. Adrian Gray turned up with the recently released Maserati MC Gt3 from Slot-it, and this also promised to be extremely rapid. JB, in a move from left field, went for the spectacular looking Slot-it Nissan GT-R GT3. These, along with the full field of other new & previous runners, made this series something to look forward to.
Round 1 at the tight Mornington Park circuit would be a good first up test of handling, but not necessarily sheer outright pace. However, sheer pace was very handy as well, and so it proved for Phil as he took out the first round by 1 lap in his new Corvette. His total of 126 laps with regular dips into the sub 4 second lap range was enough for the win. In 2nd , 1 lap back, was the tried & tested NSR AMG GT3 of the writer. When it aint’ broke, don’t fix it is my motto, and this most certainly applies to this car that was a good performer the last time this series was run. My total of 125 laps was good enough for 2nd.
In 3rd, Schoee’s brand new identical AMG turned in some very quick laps, and as he comes to terms with this car over the series, it could prove extremely potent. His 119 laps was at least 3 or 4 laps short of what he could have managed with a few less de-slots..
On the same lap (119) but back in 4th by a very small margin, Bruce, in another new car (the BMW Z3), showed that he also will be competitive. Another close battle was for 5th & 6th between the new Nissan GT-R of JB, and another brand new car, the Ford GT of DB. Both racked up 116 laps, but it was JB who took the place this week.
Just 1 lap back on 115 laps and in 7th was Callan in the 2nd of the Corvettes. Just 1 poor heat (and very poor tyres) contributed to this result, and going forward this will be another car that should find itself closer to the top of the field than the middle.
In 8th and on 114 laps was Adrian Gray in the new Maserati. Showing rapid pace, but some unpredictability, I have no doubt that the longer this series goes, the further up this car will finish.
9th went to Rhys in the Audi on 109 laps, just 1 lap to the good of Dave Gray on 108 in 10th. In 11th this week and on a round 100 laps, Thomas Males.
Round 2 - Stratton Valley - 13/8/24
1st - Mal O'May
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Callan Thomas
1st - Mal O'May
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Callan Thomas
Round 2 - Race report
Well, after all the off again/ on again excitement of the BTCC round, it was finally (in the dim dark depths of the evening) time for the GT World Challenge cars to hit the track.
And hit the track running they certainly did, with the increase in sheer pace & handling immediately obvious as Phil was dipping into the 5.7 second/lap range from the get go in heat 1.
However with Phils best lap a 5.705 in heat 1, this was as quick as it got, as others struggled to quite match these times, despite the very best efforts of some drivers. Callan came closest with a 5.809 showing that with a little more tyre work on his brand new rubber, he could well be the car to challenge Phil in the coming weeks. Another 3 drivers dipped under the 6 second mark (JB, Schoee & myself) without quite getting down to the times required to match it with the best.
However, in a bit of a tortoise & hare scenario it wasn't the quickest driver who took out the win this week. A very rare clean sheet (no de-slots) in every heat, along with a very smooth car, helped the writer notch up a competitive 87 lap total. Then I had to sit back to see if Phil could stroll past this on his last heat, which owing to a couple of unlucky offs he couldn’t quite manage. So a win for the writer & Phils 86 laps just 1 lap back in 2nd. Despite this, I still see the yellow Corvette of Phil as the car /driver to beat in the series. This week was about as good as I’m going to get quite frankly, and it won’t take much dropoff for me to move backwards down the list.
As I mentioned before though, it could be that the 2nd yellow corvette in the field (Callan) has the most potential to improve. His 3rd place this week (82 laps) was a very solid improvement from round 1, and the writer can foresee continual upward progress over the next 5 rounds.
3rd was, however, a very tight battle. Callan, JB & Rob Golley all finishing on 82 laps. As mentioned Callan took the podium spot, with JB in 4th & Rob back in 5th just from the merest trifling distance of a corner or 2.
1 lap back was another bunch finish with Schoee, Bruce & DB all on 81 laps. This time it was Schoee for 6th, Bruce in 7th & DB who lucked out in this battle to finish in 8th.
In 9th on 78 laps, Adrian Gray and rounding out the top 10, Rhys on 76 laps for the night.
Dave Gray managed 72 laps for 11th, ahead of Caine Kalbfell in 12th on 62, with Tom ending up on 53 laps after some unlucky screw problems leading to a final result of 13th.
Well, after all the off again/ on again excitement of the BTCC round, it was finally (in the dim dark depths of the evening) time for the GT World Challenge cars to hit the track.
And hit the track running they certainly did, with the increase in sheer pace & handling immediately obvious as Phil was dipping into the 5.7 second/lap range from the get go in heat 1.
However with Phils best lap a 5.705 in heat 1, this was as quick as it got, as others struggled to quite match these times, despite the very best efforts of some drivers. Callan came closest with a 5.809 showing that with a little more tyre work on his brand new rubber, he could well be the car to challenge Phil in the coming weeks. Another 3 drivers dipped under the 6 second mark (JB, Schoee & myself) without quite getting down to the times required to match it with the best.
However, in a bit of a tortoise & hare scenario it wasn't the quickest driver who took out the win this week. A very rare clean sheet (no de-slots) in every heat, along with a very smooth car, helped the writer notch up a competitive 87 lap total. Then I had to sit back to see if Phil could stroll past this on his last heat, which owing to a couple of unlucky offs he couldn’t quite manage. So a win for the writer & Phils 86 laps just 1 lap back in 2nd. Despite this, I still see the yellow Corvette of Phil as the car /driver to beat in the series. This week was about as good as I’m going to get quite frankly, and it won’t take much dropoff for me to move backwards down the list.
As I mentioned before though, it could be that the 2nd yellow corvette in the field (Callan) has the most potential to improve. His 3rd place this week (82 laps) was a very solid improvement from round 1, and the writer can foresee continual upward progress over the next 5 rounds.
3rd was, however, a very tight battle. Callan, JB & Rob Golley all finishing on 82 laps. As mentioned Callan took the podium spot, with JB in 4th & Rob back in 5th just from the merest trifling distance of a corner or 2.
1 lap back was another bunch finish with Schoee, Bruce & DB all on 81 laps. This time it was Schoee for 6th, Bruce in 7th & DB who lucked out in this battle to finish in 8th.
In 9th on 78 laps, Adrian Gray and rounding out the top 10, Rhys on 76 laps for the night.
Dave Gray managed 72 laps for 11th, ahead of Caine Kalbfell in 12th on 62, with Tom ending up on 53 laps after some unlucky screw problems leading to a final result of 13th.
Round 3 - Gotham Park - 20/8/24
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Bruce Thomas
3rd - Adrian Gray
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Bruce Thomas
3rd - Adrian Gray
Round 3 - Race report
Round 3 of the GT World Challenge, Australian edition (sounds like a computer game !), and it was a round for major shakeups in the results. Well, shakeups for all but Phil anyway. He just proceeded on his merry way to another win & after a slight glitch in the previous round there were no such mistakes this week. Phils total of 114 laps was a monstrous 6 laps clear of the next best, and made a huge statement for the rest of the series.
As far as the next few positions went however, it was a very different story….and a story with a very clear moral to it in the end. Lets start from the beginning.
It all started when the driver lineup (order) was being tweaked due to the whinging of a certain driver, and in order to pacify this cantankerous individual, the final driver lineup took a few randomised selections to be finally settled. Of course, as with any night on a 4 lane track, there is always that 1 driver who gets to start , run 3 heats & then wait until the very end of the night to run 1 last heat, after the track condition has completely changed. This week (after 3 re-shuffles) if was the writers duty to fall on his sword…….more on the implications of that later.
First up, not too many problems, except for being well off Phils pace, & 3 x 27 lap heats were competitive. Then I was off to watch the rest of the field go round. And there were some very interesting results it has to be said….
Adrian’s Maserati, after being almost undrivable in rounds 1 & 2, suddenly showed exactly what it was capable of and looked both quick & smooth in a hugely improved performance. Schoee continued his consistently quick series so far. DB, after 8th last week, got back into great form this week & Bruce, following up an underwhelming 7th last week, got his series back on track on his home track.
So, with 1 rotation to run, the writer comes back from the wilderness for the final lane, and the situation was very interesting. Adrian & Schoee had both finished on 107 laps & were currently in 2nd & 3rd. DB had also finished & was just 1 lap back in 4th & with both Bruce & myself in the very last heat only needing to match our previous lap totals to go past all of them, there was some degree of banter prior to the start.
Adrian & Schoee had managed to position themselves marshalling the same area of track, and were throwing in many thinly veiled comments on the possibility of ham fisted marshalling in the direction of the drivers. So much so that the two of them resembled this duo……
Round 3 of the GT World Challenge, Australian edition (sounds like a computer game !), and it was a round for major shakeups in the results. Well, shakeups for all but Phil anyway. He just proceeded on his merry way to another win & after a slight glitch in the previous round there were no such mistakes this week. Phils total of 114 laps was a monstrous 6 laps clear of the next best, and made a huge statement for the rest of the series.
As far as the next few positions went however, it was a very different story….and a story with a very clear moral to it in the end. Lets start from the beginning.
It all started when the driver lineup (order) was being tweaked due to the whinging of a certain driver, and in order to pacify this cantankerous individual, the final driver lineup took a few randomised selections to be finally settled. Of course, as with any night on a 4 lane track, there is always that 1 driver who gets to start , run 3 heats & then wait until the very end of the night to run 1 last heat, after the track condition has completely changed. This week (after 3 re-shuffles) if was the writers duty to fall on his sword…….more on the implications of that later.
First up, not too many problems, except for being well off Phils pace, & 3 x 27 lap heats were competitive. Then I was off to watch the rest of the field go round. And there were some very interesting results it has to be said….
Adrian’s Maserati, after being almost undrivable in rounds 1 & 2, suddenly showed exactly what it was capable of and looked both quick & smooth in a hugely improved performance. Schoee continued his consistently quick series so far. DB, after 8th last week, got back into great form this week & Bruce, following up an underwhelming 7th last week, got his series back on track on his home track.
So, with 1 rotation to run, the writer comes back from the wilderness for the final lane, and the situation was very interesting. Adrian & Schoee had both finished on 107 laps & were currently in 2nd & 3rd. DB had also finished & was just 1 lap back in 4th & with both Bruce & myself in the very last heat only needing to match our previous lap totals to go past all of them, there was some degree of banter prior to the start.
Adrian & Schoee had managed to position themselves marshalling the same area of track, and were throwing in many thinly veiled comments on the possibility of ham fisted marshalling in the direction of the drivers. So much so that the two of them resembled this duo……
The heat commenced….and their attempts at psyching out drivers proved unsuccessful in Bruces case as he completely ignored the comments & managed to notch up 28 laps to move past everyone into a clear 2nd spot.
The writer though………spooked by Tweedledee & Tweedledum, and not quite dealing with the completely different grip level managed to de slot not once, but twice, which put paid to any thought of jumping up onto the podium. However, not only did the terrible twins benefit from this, but due to a slight dummy spit & dropping of the bundle after de-slot #2, the writers car eventually came to rest 1 corner short of DBs position on the same lap total. Therefore dropping the writer down yet another position overall. The moral of this story I think is clear.
Anyway, after all of that Bruce finished 2nd on 108 laps, with Adrian 3rd on 107 laps shared with Schoee in 4th & DB 1 lap back on 106 laps for 5th.
I finished in 6th on 106 laps also, 1 lap ahead of JB in 7th (105) & Rob Golley 8th in the stunning new McLaren with his 104 lap total.
On 102 laps & in 9th, Callan Thomas is still having issues getting his tyres run in and despite a good 3rd last week shows that his car has more to give yet.
Rhys was next in line on 101 laps in 10th, 4 laps clear of Dave Gray in 11th on 96 laps. Caine showed some very good pace in the Viper (with or without rear wing) to eventually rack up 95 laps for 12th & Tom rounded out the field in 13th on 91 laps.
The writer though………spooked by Tweedledee & Tweedledum, and not quite dealing with the completely different grip level managed to de slot not once, but twice, which put paid to any thought of jumping up onto the podium. However, not only did the terrible twins benefit from this, but due to a slight dummy spit & dropping of the bundle after de-slot #2, the writers car eventually came to rest 1 corner short of DBs position on the same lap total. Therefore dropping the writer down yet another position overall. The moral of this story I think is clear.
Anyway, after all of that Bruce finished 2nd on 108 laps, with Adrian 3rd on 107 laps shared with Schoee in 4th & DB 1 lap back on 106 laps for 5th.
I finished in 6th on 106 laps also, 1 lap ahead of JB in 7th (105) & Rob Golley 8th in the stunning new McLaren with his 104 lap total.
On 102 laps & in 9th, Callan Thomas is still having issues getting his tyres run in and despite a good 3rd last week shows that his car has more to give yet.
Rhys was next in line on 101 laps in 10th, 4 laps clear of Dave Gray in 11th on 96 laps. Caine showed some very good pace in the Viper (with or without rear wing) to eventually rack up 95 laps for 12th & Tom rounded out the field in 13th on 91 laps.
Round 3 - Stratton Valley - 3/9/24
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Mal O'May
3rd - John Batich
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Mal O'May
3rd - John Batich
Racing Report - Round 4
2nd class of the night was the GT World Challenge Australia cars, and it was a very quick wake up call to all the marshalls once these rapid rockets started whizzing around the track. Having said that, all in all it was mainly a marshalling disaster free zone for the entirety of the brackets, which allowed the drivers to put in some solid laps.
At the top of the tree, nothing changed and it was the yellow Corvette of Phil that took out the round with his 3rd win from 4 rounds (and a disastrous 2nd placing in the other !). His lap total of 88 with a best of 5.642 was just too classy for all comers despite their best efforts. One of those trying to put in their best efforts, the writers AMG Mercedes managed to push Phil for at least the first couple of brackets with a 5.719 best lap, but in the end the pressure mounted & a couple of driver errors in the last bracket saw my challenge fall 2 laps short on 86 and had to settle for 2nd.
A great drive from JB on his home track saw him take out 3rd with 83 laps in his best result of the series. His Nissan GTR looks the goods, and being a new car will no doubt continue to improve for the rest of the series. As to how much? Only time will tell, but JB was also dipping into the 5.9 second lap times.
2 laps back & in 4th was another new car, the AMG Mercedes of Schoee. Dave has shown very good pace & is also developing his car continually, so expect some top 3 finishes in the last 3 rounds.
Rob Golley's McLaren was next in line in 5th with 80 lap & with the great pace this car (another new one) has shown, it will seem a huge shame that once the last 3 rounds are run…..all of these promising cars will not be seen for another 2 years.
On 79 laps, 2 drivers battled it out for 6th & 7th. In the end it was Rhys’s Audi who took 6th and seems to on the improve after a couple of less than ideal rounds. DB was the unlucky 7th place driver who lost out on track position. DB in yet another car making its debut. Not sure we’ve seen so many new cars in a series that didn’t involve handouts!
Another frustrating week for 8th place-getter, Adrian Gray. After having showed some of the potential of the Maserati with a great 3rd place at the last round, the completely different grip levels at Stratton Valley this week played havoc with his tyres & his lap total of 74 was a battle with his car the entire night. He will be one driver very much looking forward to the round 5 venue of Gotham Park in 2 weeks time.
On 71 laps & in 9th this week, Dave Gray had a great 2 brackets on lanes 2 & 3, but an unlucky heat on 1 prevented him from climbing further up the results.
Tom rounded out the top 10 this week with 68 laps.
2nd class of the night was the GT World Challenge Australia cars, and it was a very quick wake up call to all the marshalls once these rapid rockets started whizzing around the track. Having said that, all in all it was mainly a marshalling disaster free zone for the entirety of the brackets, which allowed the drivers to put in some solid laps.
At the top of the tree, nothing changed and it was the yellow Corvette of Phil that took out the round with his 3rd win from 4 rounds (and a disastrous 2nd placing in the other !). His lap total of 88 with a best of 5.642 was just too classy for all comers despite their best efforts. One of those trying to put in their best efforts, the writers AMG Mercedes managed to push Phil for at least the first couple of brackets with a 5.719 best lap, but in the end the pressure mounted & a couple of driver errors in the last bracket saw my challenge fall 2 laps short on 86 and had to settle for 2nd.
A great drive from JB on his home track saw him take out 3rd with 83 laps in his best result of the series. His Nissan GTR looks the goods, and being a new car will no doubt continue to improve for the rest of the series. As to how much? Only time will tell, but JB was also dipping into the 5.9 second lap times.
2 laps back & in 4th was another new car, the AMG Mercedes of Schoee. Dave has shown very good pace & is also developing his car continually, so expect some top 3 finishes in the last 3 rounds.
Rob Golley's McLaren was next in line in 5th with 80 lap & with the great pace this car (another new one) has shown, it will seem a huge shame that once the last 3 rounds are run…..all of these promising cars will not be seen for another 2 years.
On 79 laps, 2 drivers battled it out for 6th & 7th. In the end it was Rhys’s Audi who took 6th and seems to on the improve after a couple of less than ideal rounds. DB was the unlucky 7th place driver who lost out on track position. DB in yet another car making its debut. Not sure we’ve seen so many new cars in a series that didn’t involve handouts!
Another frustrating week for 8th place-getter, Adrian Gray. After having showed some of the potential of the Maserati with a great 3rd place at the last round, the completely different grip levels at Stratton Valley this week played havoc with his tyres & his lap total of 74 was a battle with his car the entire night. He will be one driver very much looking forward to the round 5 venue of Gotham Park in 2 weeks time.
On 71 laps & in 9th this week, Dave Gray had a great 2 brackets on lanes 2 & 3, but an unlucky heat on 1 prevented him from climbing further up the results.
Tom rounded out the top 10 this week with 68 laps.
Round 5 - Mornington Park- 17/9/24
1st - Mal O'May
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Rob Golley
1st - Mal O'May
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Rob Golley
Racing Report - Round 5
Round 5 of the GT World Challenge series, and we all know what that means…yes, it’s dropped round time!
So all those drivers who…..
A) Have missed a round of the series.
Or
B) Have had one utterly horrid drive.
are now able to scratch this result from their minds (& the points table) & forget it ever happened and move on with the rest of the series.
There is only 1 problem with this……if you have already scratched one missed point or 1 horrid round from your first 5 rounds……this doesn’t then leave you with any scope for having a poor result in the final 2 rounds.
No pressure then…..well, certainly none on series leader Phil whose “worst” result in 5 rounds so far has been 2nd, which is what he achieved this round despite battling with an ultra grippy lane in the final heat & dropping far more laps that usual. The major beneficiary of this was, very luckily, myself. I’d managed to rack up enough laps over the first 2 heats to have a bit of a buffer when it came to lane 3, which was just as well as it turned out. So, I managed a win this week on 127 laps, and with the dropped round closed up to within a point of Phil at the top of the table. However, 2 rounds to go & I absolutely cannot afford a poor result over either of these final 2 rounds……. which is now a given.
As mentioned, Phil finished 2nd with his hard earned total of 123 laps and rounding out the top 3 with his best series result so far in the new McLaren, Rob Golley on 122.
In 4th, and continuing in his rich vein of form currently, Dave Schofield on 121 laps, well clear of 5th placegetter, guest driver, Nick G on 118 laps. A great result for Nick though.
Just 2 laps back on 116, was Rhys in the OnlyFans Audi with the writer still to visually confirm whether Rhys has the appropriate driver figure seated in this model.
Adrian Grays Maserati was back into Mr Hyde mode this week, and with the grip levels increasing on the track from heat to heat, certainly wasn’t done any favours with his final 3 heat driver placement in this series, unlike the Supercars! His total of 115 laps slotted him into 7th.
Dave Gray once again showed great form to be next in line just 1 lap back on 114, and was good enough for 8th this week, which was excellent considering 9th place driver JB, has had a top 3 finish this series. JB had a slightly harder time of things this week though, and his 109 laps was well down on what we’d usually expect from this driver/car combination.
On 104 laps, Caine made the final top 10 position and avoided putting up with any comments from car owner (Phil) about losing the rear spoiler while racing, by the simple act of removing it before racing!
In 11th & rounding out the nights results, Tom Males on 98 laps.
Round 5 of the GT World Challenge series, and we all know what that means…yes, it’s dropped round time!
So all those drivers who…..
A) Have missed a round of the series.
Or
B) Have had one utterly horrid drive.
are now able to scratch this result from their minds (& the points table) & forget it ever happened and move on with the rest of the series.
There is only 1 problem with this……if you have already scratched one missed point or 1 horrid round from your first 5 rounds……this doesn’t then leave you with any scope for having a poor result in the final 2 rounds.
No pressure then…..well, certainly none on series leader Phil whose “worst” result in 5 rounds so far has been 2nd, which is what he achieved this round despite battling with an ultra grippy lane in the final heat & dropping far more laps that usual. The major beneficiary of this was, very luckily, myself. I’d managed to rack up enough laps over the first 2 heats to have a bit of a buffer when it came to lane 3, which was just as well as it turned out. So, I managed a win this week on 127 laps, and with the dropped round closed up to within a point of Phil at the top of the table. However, 2 rounds to go & I absolutely cannot afford a poor result over either of these final 2 rounds……. which is now a given.
As mentioned, Phil finished 2nd with his hard earned total of 123 laps and rounding out the top 3 with his best series result so far in the new McLaren, Rob Golley on 122.
In 4th, and continuing in his rich vein of form currently, Dave Schofield on 121 laps, well clear of 5th placegetter, guest driver, Nick G on 118 laps. A great result for Nick though.
Just 2 laps back on 116, was Rhys in the OnlyFans Audi with the writer still to visually confirm whether Rhys has the appropriate driver figure seated in this model.
Adrian Grays Maserati was back into Mr Hyde mode this week, and with the grip levels increasing on the track from heat to heat, certainly wasn’t done any favours with his final 3 heat driver placement in this series, unlike the Supercars! His total of 115 laps slotted him into 7th.
Dave Gray once again showed great form to be next in line just 1 lap back on 114, and was good enough for 8th this week, which was excellent considering 9th place driver JB, has had a top 3 finish this series. JB had a slightly harder time of things this week though, and his 109 laps was well down on what we’d usually expect from this driver/car combination.
On 104 laps, Caine made the final top 10 position and avoided putting up with any comments from car owner (Phil) about losing the rear spoiler while racing, by the simple act of removing it before racing!
In 11th & rounding out the nights results, Tom Males on 98 laps.
