Phillip Island delivered classic Victoria mayhem in Race 2 of the GT World Challenge Australia — a rollercoaster of penalties, pit drama, and apocalyptic weather that saw Kiwi Jaxon Evans and Aussie teammate Elliot Schutte storm to a hard-fought P3 podium in their Ferrari 296 GT3. From the moment the lights went out, the action never let up.
A furious three-wide charge into Turn 1 set the tone. Alex Peroni muscled his way into the early lead ahead of pole-sitter Dorian Boccolacci and Mercedes ace Jayden Ojeda. Evans, launching from P4, was locked in an early and electrifying scrap with Ojeda — a fierce Ferrari vs. Mercedes battle that kept fans on their feet for lap after lap.
Behind them, fellow Kiwi Brendon Leitch wasted no time climbing from P7 to P5 by Lap 2, while Ryan Wood and Anthony Pedersen duked it out in the thick of the midfield. Evans shook off Ojeda briefly, opening up a half-second gap and setting his sights on the leaders. But the drama was only just beginning.
Race leader Peroni was handed a 5-second time penalty for a start line infringement — a controversial call that his team would later appeal. Undeterred, Peroni put the hammer down, opening a slim lead over Boccolacci in a bid to buffer his penalty.
Then came the contact. Evans and Ojeda clashed while going wheel to wheel with 34 minutes to go — carbon shards flying as the Ferrari held firm in third. But the relentless Ojeda wasn’t done. Just six minutes later, he launched another move, this time making it stick and bumping Evans down to P4.
Leitch, trying to join the party, attempted a move on Evans but skated off track — a heart-stopper moment that he somehow salvaged without losing position.
As pit stop windows opened, Evans and Jordan Love made it a double Ferrari pit call with 25 minutes remaining. Crucially, Boccolacci and Peroni dived in simultaneously, but disaster struck in the Lamborghini camp as Boccolacci’s stop ballooned to 1 minute 49 seconds — a costly delay that threw the race into flux.
Peroni’s co-driver, Mark Rosser, emerged in the lead, but the drama was far from over. Schutte took over from Evans and rejoined deep in the field — P14 overall, P12 in class — with work to do and time against him.
The Kiwi contingent was now in full swing: Tim Miles (replacing Leitch) was running a scorching P5 and climbing, while Steve Brooks (in for Wood) slotted into P6. Schutte, finding a rhythm and carving through the pack, was up to P7 with 11 minutes to go.
Shane Smollen, running in a comfortable third, suffered a devastating right-rear puncture — limping back to the pits and crushing his podium hopes. The shuffle it triggered in the top 5 opened the door for a late-race surge.
And just when you thought the race couldn’t throw any more curveballs — the skies unleashed chaos. Rain, hail, and howling winds lashed Phillip Island with four minutes to go, turning the circuit into a treacherous, slippery minefield. Cars tiptoed around the greasy surface, with grip at a premium and nerves on a knife edge.
Disaster struck again — Miles and Leitch made contact in the worsening conditions, and Miles copped a 15-second penalty for the incident. Then, heartbreak in the final lap: Rosser, once a race leader, went off and became beached in the gravel trap, ending Peroni’s race most cruelly.
Through the storm and carnage, Schutte delivered a stunning final-lap charge, guiding the Ferrari across the line in P3 — the duo’s second podium of the weekend. Evans and Schutte, calm amidst the chaos, emerged as true survivors in a race that had absolutely everything.
At the front, Brad Schumacher and Supercars star Broc Feeney claimed a sensational victory, with Liam Talbot and Declan Fraser finishing second. But the story of the day? Evans and Schutte’s gutsy, gritty, and glorious podium finish in one of the most unpredictable GT races in recent memory.
Header Image: Jaxon Evans Facebook
