2025-2026 Bridgestone GR86 Championship runner-up Zach Blincoe made an impressive debut over the weekend in the penultimate round of the Monochrome GT4 Australia series, with an eye-catching fifth-place finish to cap a fine weekend at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Alongside Daniel Frougas in the local Sydney-based GWR Australia team for his prize-winning cameo in the popular GT4 series, a solid start in first practice was just the beginning for Blincoe.
Thirteenth fastest in that session, the duo then went 12th in the second practice session, seventh in the first qualifying session with Frougas and then a super impressive fifth in the second qualifying session for Blincoe.
That made the team the fastest Toyota in both qualifying sessions, with Zach just a second off Q2 pace-setter Jet Murray in his McLaren Artura.
Those impressive qualifying results translated into equally impressive race results, with a seventh place in the twilight race on Saturday evening and Blincoe leading the charge to a fine fifth place in Sunday’s second one-hour battle.
Blincoe was delighted with his form and hopes it has made him more visible on the GT team owner’s radar in both Australia and New Zealand.
“The weekend as a whole was an amazing experience, especially being run by such a great team,” he said.
“I enjoyed the weekend so much – it was an amazing field of drivers to race against.
“Driving alongside Dan was a pleasure, and he really helped me get to speed with the car as the weekend progressed. There were plenty of takeaways for the future too.
“Overall the BOP (Balance of Performance) didn’t favour us at this track but I think we really maximised the pace of the car and brought home the best results that we could. As a driver, you always have to believe in your own ability, so I wasn’t too surprised that I was able to figure it out and meet the expectations set. But of course that was very satisfying too.
“As of now, we are not sure what is next in my racing career. Returning to Australia and competing in more GT4 racing in the future would definitely be a strong option for me as it is a great pathway for forging a career in GT Racing.
“Hopefully I have shown what I am capable of to the GT4 teams and perhaps I will get to do some more racing in GTs on either side of the Tasman.
GAZOO Racing NZ Motorsport Manager Nicolas Caillol was impressed with Zach’s weekend too, adding: “It’s never easy jumping into a competitive field which is well into its season and into a new car at a new track, but Zach was very impressive in that regard.
“It was particularly difficult this weekend as Sydney is a track where you must manage tyre degradation so that was another dimension he had to cope with.
“We have to thank GWR for being an amazing partner in this process of giving our top young talents from GR86 – Zach in Sydney and our champion Chris White in the previous three rounds – their Australian GT4 debuts.
“It has worked very well as a pathway opportunity for the top drivers from the Bridgestone GR86 Championship and showcased their exceptional level of talent. We hope very much that the opportunity will help further the careers of both drivers, who have definitely shown they have the talent required to forge successful careers in motorsport.”
Header Image: Supplied
