Liam Talbot is feeling strong after the opening two sessions for the third round of the CAMS Australian GT Championship aboard his MEGA Racing Porsche 911 GT3-R at Perth’s Barbagallo Raceway – but warns there is more to come in tomorrow’s second qualifier.
Liam ended the opening practice session second fastest – showing the advantage of recent testing at the 2.4 kilometre outer Perth racetrack.
In this afternoon’s opening qualifying session – which featured the professional drivers in two driver teams – he ended seventh overall.
The field is tightly bunched, however, with one second covering the top eight drivers in the category.
He felt he didn’t extract the maximum from the MEGA Racing Porsche, however he warns that he is fired up for tomorrow’s second session.
Tomorrow, Talbot will undergo another qualifying session with the amateur drivers in two driver teams, which with today’s session will determine the grid for the opening 60 minute race.
The Walkinshaw GT3 prepared machine proved faultless once again and Talbot was able to gather significant data – particularly related to tyre degradation, critical on the abrasive Barbagallo surface.
In addition to Australia’s newest Petroleum company – MEGA Limited – Liam Talbot Racing has drawn support for his 2017 campaign from Wash-It Australia Mobile Truck Wash and Walkinshaw GT3 partners, Morris Finance and Urban Maintenance Systems.
Tomorrow’s qualifying will take place at 8:40am WA-time (10:40am Eastern) with the race at 12:25pm local (2:25pm Eastern). Television coverage will be live on Fox Sports 506.
LIAM’S LOWDOWN – 2nd & 7th in today’s sessions:
“We knew this morning that we had to get out of the gates fast and clear traffic. The MEGA Racing Porsche was a pleasure to drive and we were really happy with second position – the car was as fast as it was on the test day, the rear was a bit loose, but we spent most of the session trying to find a good race package.
“The track conditions for qualifying this afternoon were pretty ordinary, plus it was hotter. We couldn’t go quicker, but the Walkinshaw GT3 team was able to gather a lot of good information from the session. We believe that qualifying two in the morning will be the time to set the grid, as it will be cooler in the early morning air.
“For us, that session is our go to after this afternoon. We will have some more information to try and look after those tyres in the race.
“Our test day here a few weeks ago was vital in terms of giving us the right amount of data as we roll off the truck today.
“I think we’re in a really good spot – at the moment, it is the tortoise versus hare scenario. We’ll let the guys go burn their tyres out, we’ll sit back and cruise then get them on the run to the flag!”
2017 Australian GT Championship Calendar:
1. Mar 2 – 5 Clipsal 500, Adelaide, South Australia – 4th
2. Mar 23 – 26 Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park, Melbourne, Victoria – 3rd
3. May 5 – 7 Perth Super Sprint, Barbagallo, Western Australia
4. Jul 7 – 9 Townsville 400, Townsville, Queensland
5. Sep 15 – 17 Sandown 500, Sandown Raceway, Victoria
2017 Australian Endurance Championship Calendar:
1. May 26 – 28 Phillip Island, Phillip Island, Victoria
2. Aug 18 – 20 Sydney Motorsport Park, Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW
3. Oct 27 – 29 Hampton Downs, Hampton Downs, New Zealand
4. Nov 10 – 12 Highlands 501 Highlands Park, Cromwell, NZ
Further Sources of Information:
Liam Talbot Racing
www.liamtalbotracing.com
www.facebook.com/liamtalbotracing
www.instagram.com/liamtalbotracing
MEGA Limited
www.megaltd.com.au
http://www.facebook.com/MEGAracingAU/
http://twitter.com/MEGARacingAU
http://www.instagram.com/MEGARacingAU/
Walkinshaw GT3
http://www.facebook.com/WalkinshawGT3/
http://twitter.com/WalkinshawGT3
http://www.instagram.com/walkinshawgt3/