Broc Feeney and Brad Schumacher have taken a massive step towards their GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS Pro-Am title defence after claiming a thrilling victory in Race 2 of the series’ visit to Sydney.
Behind the wheel of the #1 Kelso Electrical Team MPC Audi R8 LMS EVO II, the pair secured their victory off the back of impressive stints and some good fortune.
Taking out second place was fellow title contenders Brendon Leitch and Sergio Pires in the #44 Geyer Valmont Racing by Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, while Valentino Astuti and Darren Currie appeared on the podium together for the first time in the series.
“A very eventful weekend to say the least,” commented Leitch. “Qualifying for Sergio (Pires) was really good. Mine wasn’t so suffered the repercussions for Race 2 (Sunday). Luckily, I got a really good start and got up to second place where we finished.
“Unfortunately for yesterdays race (Saturday Race 1) Sergio had a small issue at Turn 2 which cost him every position, and then on the last corner dropped a wheel off the outside (of the corner) and we had a little bit of mechanical damage and couldn’t continue in the race.
“The boys did a great job to fix it over night and got us back out.
“We still aren’t out of the title fight but a little on the back foot heading to the final round.”
In what was a dramatic outing under the sunshine of Sydney Motorsport Park, the race got off to a flying start as pole sitter Alex Peroni in the #268 Team BRM Audi R8 LMS EVO II he shares faced a surge of pressure right from the get-go.
His biggest challenger came from fellow stablemate Ryan Wood in the #88 Wolfbrook Motorsport / Team BRM Audi R8 LMS EVO II, who eventually muscled his way past him on the second lap.
Shortly after losing the lead to Wood, the Tasmanian also fell behind Leitch, who had a decent start to the race himself and produced an assertive move to make it past the Audi.
After getting past Peroni, both Wood and Leitch began to charge away from the chasing pack, with Wood storming out to a lead of almost eight seconds over Leitch, who had managed to build a big buffer himself with more than seven seconds separating him and Peroni.
As the two Kiwis raced away from the chasing field, Peroni was busy defending his place from Feeney and the #66 Move My Wheels by Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Jayden Ojeda and Paul Lucchitti.
While the Tasmanian defended gallantly, he couldn’t hold off Feeney in the end as the series leader eventually made it past on lap 16 before Ojeda got in on the act and passed the Audi, which was struggling for pace.
The top five remained the same for the rest of the first stint and by the time the pit stops were completed and all success-penalties had been added, the #88 Audi remained in top spot, leaving Steve Brooks leading Pires in second place, while Schumacher remained in third.
Brooks comfortably led Pires with a lead of seven seconds and looked set to secure his and Wood’s first win for the season before disaster struck on lap 22 when the #88 ground to a halt in the middle of the track – evaporating the good work both drivers had done to that point.
Right before the safety car was called out, Schumacher had made it past Pires to slot into the lead, where he remained for the rest of the race following the restart after the safety car intervention.
While Schumacher comfortably guided the #1 Audi R8 to the chequered flag ahead of Pires, who was also enjoying a big gap between him and the cars behind, the battle for third produced the most entertainment for the remaining laps.
Cameron Campbell occupied third place in the #23 Zagame Autosport Ferrari 296 GT3 he shares with Josh Buchan for a brief moment before unfortunately spinning the car and prompting Mark Rosser in the #268 Audi into third place – an impressive position considering he received the car much lower than where they started.
Holding a decent gap over a number of cars behind him, Rosser couldn’t hold on for much longer as Darren Currie in the #2 Trading Garage Team MPC Audi R8 LMS EVO II put plenty of pressure on the Team BRM driver.
In the end, Currie was able to make a move stick and snatched the final podium place for himself and Astuti to secure their maiden podium of the year, while also giving Astuti a fighting chance in the SRO GT Academy battle he is in with Oscar Targett.
As the cars reached the chequered flag, Rosser settled for fourth place behind Currie, while Renee Gracie crossed the line in fifth place behind the wheel of the #181 OnlyFans Racing Ferrari 296 GT3.
In sixth place was another Ferrari in ARGT’s Jaxon Evans (NZ) and Elliott Schutte, while the #81 Earl Bamber Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R of Tom McLennan and Andrew Georgiadis ended up in seventh ahead of Saturday’s Race 1 winners Oscar Targett and Shane Smollen in the #56 Kollosche AMG by Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO and their Tigani Motorsport teammates of Ojeda and Paul Lucchitti.
Rounding out the top 10 was the #24 KFC Team MPC Audi R8 LMS EVO II of Paul Stokell and Matt Stoupas, with the pair comfortably securing Trophy Cup honours over AED Consulting by Tigani Motorsport’s Luke Youlden and Nathan Halstead – who finished almost one minute behind.
Taking out Am Cup honours was the returning #45 RAM Motorsport / GWR Australia Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO of Brett Hobson and Michael Sheargold.
The series now turns towards the final round of the 2026 season, which takes place at the bp Adelaide Grand Final on 26-29 November.
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