Close finish for Dowdall in Monochrome GT4 Australia

Kiwi driver Blake Dowdall and co-driver Cooper Cutts (Lubrimaxx Ford Mustang GT4) have finished fourth and just short of the podium as the Monochrome GT4 Australia has wrapped up its visit to Hidden Valley in dramatic fashion with the final outing of the LIQUI MOLY GT Festival Darwin proving quite the spectacle.

Silver Cup

Tom Hayman and Jett Murray have extended their lead at the top of the Silver Cup standings after claiming a commanding third victory of the season.

Finishing a dramatic race in second place behind the #25 Method Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 was Blake Purdie and Jobe Stewart in the #48 Purdie Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4 by three seconds.

Following an impressive showing, Slatterys/McElrea Racing’s Jay Murray guided the #7 BMW M4 GT4 G82 EVO to his second podium for the season – the Victorian edging out the #95 Miedecke Motorsport with Lubrimaxx Ford Mustang GT4 of Cooper Cutts and Blake Dowdall by less than one second.

Despite the close finish for the podium places, the race belonged to Hayman and Murray, who enjoyed comfortable stints behind the wheel having led from start to finish.

With Murray getting the race underway, the two-time Silver Cup champion capitalised on the misfortune of pole-sitter Jensen Shearer, whose #46 RENNEN Motorsport Porsche 718 Cayman RS CS made significant contact with the fast-charging #227 Multispares Racing Ford Mustang GT4 of Mason Harvey and Cam McLeod.

The incident brought out the first safety car intervention, which Murray defended brilliantly on the restart before doing the same during the second intervention not long after.

For the rest of the race, Murray comfortably led the field as he handed the car over to Hayman in top spot, who went on to bring the car home with ease and give the team its third win.

It was much harder work to claim a podium for Purdie and Stewart, who had to work their way up the order after Stewart lost positions early in the race.

It was a similar effort from Jay Murray, who started the race in ninth and slowly navigated his way up the order while avoiding any major issues – eventually holding off a fast-charging Dowdall in the last 15 minutes of the race.

Silver-Am

Cody Burcher and Dean Campbell have capped off their memorable return to Monochrome GT4 Australia in style after the pair guided the #118 Method Motorsport Ford Mustang GT4 to a three-second victory.

Taking out second place for the class were Aaron Seton and Jason Gomersall in the #1 Gomersall Motorsport Ford Mustang GT4 – the reigning champions edging out the #75 Tufflift Racing by TSM McLaren Artura GT4 of Zac Soutar and Glenn Nirwan to the runner-up finish by less than half a second.

Campbell and Burcher both produced stellar stints in the Ford Mustang GT4 – with the former getting the jump on the pole-sitting Nirwan on the opening lap before the first of two safety car interventions came out.

The Queenslander never looked like relinquishing the lead following either of the safety car interventions as he kept quite a large distance between him and any other competitor – the next best driver being Kent Quinn in the #28 Norganic Proteins Porsche 718 Cayman RS CS he shares with Caleb Paterson.

When it came to the pits, Campbell entered first but Burcher came out in third due to a success penalty as a result of the pair’s podium yesterday – the latter coming out behind Soutar in top spot and Paterson in second.

The front two switched places not long after the pit stop window as Burcher bridged the gap to the pair before getting past Soutar with just under 10 minutes to go and eventually claiming the lead off Paterson with just a few minutes remaining.

Seton also got the better of Soutar in the final stages on the penultimate lap to slot into third after he and Gomersall had occupied fourth place for much of the race.

Both Seton and Soutar were then elevated a position post-race as a result of the #28 Porsche receiving a penalty due to contact with the #46 Porsche of Jensen Shearer earlier in the race.

Am Cup

Glenn Walker has notched up his fourth Am Cup win of the 2026 season after snatching the victory from the grasp of fellow contender Nathan Callaghan in the final third of the race.

Behind the wheel of the #14 Gomersall Motorsport Ford Mustang GT4, Walker had to be patient throughout the second outing in Darwin as some good driving and others making mistakes saw him move up the order.

Finishing the race in second place was Callaghan and co-driver Chris Lillis in the #64 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS, while Method Motorsport’s Ryan Sorensen rounded out the eventual top three in the #11 McLaren Artura GT4 following a post-race penalty.

In what was a fairly smooth race for the class, Walker started the race in second behind pole-sitter Jarrod Keyte and remained within reach throughout the one-hour race, never looking like conceding a place to any others within the class.

Following the mandatory pit stops, the action began to ramp up as Walker dropped to fourth and Randall Racing’s Peter Lawrence in the #32 BMW M4 G82 occupied the lead ahead of Callaghan and Sorensen.

From that point, Walker was on the charge and managed to pick off Sorensen shortly after the pit stop window before getting past Callaghan with just 12 minutes to go. Walker then gained the lead shortly after passing the Porsche when Lawrence went off track.

While Lawrence went on to cross the line in third behind Walker and Callaghan, he ended up classified sixth after receiving a post-race penalty for a breach under safety car.

Monochrome GT4 Australia returns in just over six weeks time with the LIQUI MOLY GT Festival Sydney at Sydney Motorsport Park on 18-20 September.

Related Stories

Join in the conversation!


Comments

Leave a Reply