Kiwi drivers were right in the thick of the action as Round 3 of the Monochrome GT4 Australia Championship got underway at The Bend Motorsport Park, with strong performances, late-race battles, and heartbreak all featuring in an entertaining opening race.
Leading the New Zealand charge was Tayler Bryant, who produced an impressive drive to secure sixth outright and fourth in the Silver class alongside co-driver Rylan Gray. The pair showed strong pace throughout the race and remained firmly in podium contention during the one-hour contest as changing conditions and strategy battles shook up the order.
At the front of the Silver class, it was the Audi R8 LMS EVO combination of Blake Purdie and Jobe Stewart that came away victorious after a tense late-race fight. Stewart made the decisive move for the lead with just over 10 minutes remaining and held off the chasing Ford Mustang GT4 of George Miedecke and Blake Tracey to claim victory.
Bryant and Gray stayed clear of much of the chaos unfolding around them and quietly pieced together one of the strongest Kiwi performances of the afternoon, banking valuable championship points with a composed run inside the top six overall.
There was disappointment, however, for fellow Kiwi Blake Dowdall, whose race ended dramatically after an incident triggered the race’s only Safety Car period. Sharing the Miedecke Motorsport Ford Mustang GT4 with Cooper Cutts, Dowdall had been battling inside the competitive Silver field before contact ended their afternoon early. Despite the setback, the pairing was still classified 11th overall and seventh in class.
Kiwi youngster William Exton also enjoyed a solid opener at The Bend. Teaming up with Jack Johnson, Exton guided his entry to 12th outright and eighth in the Silver class after a consistent run through the packed GT4 field. With multiple manufacturers and classes battling nose-to-tail throughout the race, simply staying out of trouble proved a major challenge.
In Silver-Am, New Zealand driver Matt McCutcheon celebrated a class victory alongside experienced Australian Tony Quinn in the Game Over Toyota GR Supra EVO 2.
McCutcheon laid the foundation during his stint before handing the car over to Quinn in a strong position following the pit stops. While Quinn briefly lost the lead late in the race, the veteran responded immediately to reclaim top spot and edged home in a thrilling finish by less than half a second.
The victory marked an important result for McCutcheon, who played a key role in the team’s success with a fast and controlled opening stint in difficult conditions.
Further down the order, Kiwi Chris White battled through a challenging race to finish 25th overall and 12th in class with co-driver Daniel Frougas. Despite the tough result, White continued to gain valuable experience in the highly competitive Australian GT4 field.
Race 2 –
It was a tough second race of the Monochrome GT4 Australia weekend at The Bend Motorsport Park for the Kiwi drivers, with several showing strong pace before late setbacks shuffled the order.
Chris White and Daniel Frougas started from overall pole position and Silver Cup pole in the #9 Toyota GR Supra GT4 after an impressive qualifying performance.
Fellow Kiwi Tayler Bryant and co-driver Rylan Gray lined up third, while William Exton and Jack Johnson started ninth alongside Blake Dowdall and Cooper Cutts in 10th. After their Silver-Am win in Race 1, Matt McCutcheon and Tony Quinn faced a challenge from the rear of the grid in 27th.
Frougas made a clean start and led the field into Turn 1 ahead of Jobe Stewart, Jake Camilleri and Lochie Dalton. Further back, Cooper Cutts made an early move in the #95 Ford Mustang GT4, climbing two places to eighth on the opening lap.
Bryant went backwards off the start, dropping from third to eighth on lap one, while Exton’s co-driver Jack Johnson also lost ground in the opening stages, slipping from ninth to 12th in the #114 McLaren Artura GT4.
Out front, Frougas built an early gap, but Stewart closed quickly and took the lead at Turn 1 on Lap 3. A few laps later, Dalton and Jensen Shearer also found a way past, dropping the Toyota back to fourth.
Meanwhile, Tony Quinn had started making progress from the back, moving up three spots early in the race.
The race changed with 36 minutes remaining when Ryan Sorensen and Glenn Nirwan made contact between Turns 5 and 6. Nirwan ended up in the grass while Sorensen limped back to the pit lane with heavy rear damage, bringing out the safety car.
With the pit window open, most of the field took the chance to stop and change drivers before racing resumed with 18 minutes to go.
Antonio D’Alberto led the restart ahead of Peter Lawrence, Jarrod Hughes and Nicholas McBride. White had taken over the #9 Toyota and restarted 10th overall and third in class, with Rylan Gray directly behind after replacing Bryant. Dowdall was also back in the car and restarted 12th overall.
Dowdall wasted no time after the restart, charging from 12th to seventh in just one lap and briefly moving into third in class. However, he couldn’t quite hold the momentum and later slipped back outside the top 10.
White’s race then took another hit when he was tagged from behind by another competitor, forcing the Toyota back into the pits and dropping the Kiwi to the rear of the field.
McCutcheon continued to work forward during the closing stages, making up several positions after starting last.
With 14 minutes left, Jarrod Hughes made the race-winning move on D’Alberto to grab the lead, while McBride also found a way through shortly after.
Hughes and co-driver Summer Rintoule went on to take the win, while Ryder Quinn and Steve Jackic claimed Silver-Am honours and second outright. McBride and Dean Koutsoumidis completed the podium, while Nathan Callaghan and Chris Lillis won the AM Cup.
Dowdall and Cutts finished as the leading Kiwi combination in 11th overall and seventh in class after their strong charge following the restart.
McCutcheon and Quinn recovered from the back of the grid to finish 18th overall and seventh in class, while Bryant and Gray crossed the line 21st overall after their difficult opening lap.
Exton and Johnson finished 25th overall after receiving a 64-second penalty, while White and Frougas ended a frustrating race in 27th after their early promise disappeared following the late contact.
Monochrome GT4 Australia returns on June 12-14 for Rounds 5 and 6 at Queensland Raceway.
Header Image: Monochrome GT4 Australia
