Bridgestone GR86 Championship winner Chris White had a tough start to his prize GT4 campaign in the Monochrome GT4 Australia series last weekend, but he’s already looking forward to better days ahead at the next round.
It was a frustrating weekend for him, teammate Daniel Frougas, and the GWR team, who showed they had plenty of speed but were unable to convert it into race-winning results. At least for now…..
The first race on Saturday saw the pair come home in 25th place after Chris had qualified the car in 18th. And it was just as challenging in the weekend’s second race, despite Frougas having qualified the car in pole position.
The second race saw the team in a battle for 3rd overall with the GR Supra GT4 driven by Nick Mc Bride and Dean Koutsoumidis.
“Dan started the first race leading for the first part, then dropping back a few places, then a mid-race safety car threw a spanner in the works, putting us a few places back in 10th.
“I jumped in during the safety car period, eager to move forward back into a podium position, making up a couple of spots off the restart, but unfortunately got tagged in the rear of the car, causing us to pit and drop to the rear of the field once again.”
In the weekend’s second race, former Toyota 86 Championship racer Summer Rintoule became the first woman to win a Monochrome GT4 Australia race as she and Jarrod Hughes finally got the class victory after a year and a half of trying.
The weekend was also the first where GR Supra GT4 EVO2s took pole position for both races, with Lachlan Evennett and Daniel Frougas, respectively, in Q1 and Q2.
It was a good weekend in general for the other GR Supra GT4 EVO2 cars; however, with two former Toyota 86 championship runners, Rylan Grey and Tayler Bryant, finishing sixth overall.
Matthew McCutcheon and Tony Quinn finished eighth in their car, winning the Silver-Am class in front of another GR Supra GT4, to make it the first 1-2 in the Silver-Am class in Australia. Toyota also increased its lead in the GT4 manufacturers’ championship.
White will have another chance in his second of three race weekends at Queensland Raceway over the weekend of June 12th-14th. He’s determined to convert that raw pace into results, adding:
“It is very much a positive that Dan had some super strong speed racing in the top three cars, and via my stint, I got comfortable in the car with pace, competing with the lead cars.
“There’s definitely a lot more to come, and I know we’ll be very focused on stepping up and turning that speed into results at Queensland.”
Header Image: SRO Australia
