Wood and Brooks finish second after impressive recovery run at Hidden Valley

Broc Feeney and Brad Schumacher have secured their first GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS victory since the opening day of the 2026 season with a commanding performance at Hidden Valley Raceway.

A classy drive from Feeney in the opening stint helped set up the victory, which saw Schumacher guide the #1 Kelso Electrical Team MPC Audi R8 LMS EVO II to the chequered flag to record a seven-second win.

Taking out second place was the #88 Wolfbrook Motorsport Team BRM Audi R8 LMS EVO II of Kiwi drivers Ryan Wood and Steve Brooks thanks to a mighty effort from the former, while Zagame Autosport’s Josh Buchan and Cameron Campbell rounded out the podium – securing the pair’s best result of the year.

There was plenty of drama right from the get-go as a number of drivers were caught up in early incidents, with the polesitter in Buchan and Wood making contact – a similar fate suffered by Brendon Leitch in the #44 Geyer Valmont Racing by Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 after he and teammate Jayden Ojeda came together.

2026 Liqui Moly GT Festival Darwin, Hidden Valley Raceway, Hidden Valley , Northern Territory, Australia. 26 Jul, 2026.

Both drivers tumbled down the order as a result to the back of the field – but while Wood was able to quickly reset and charge his way back up the order, Leitch took a little while to recover and make up positions.

At the front of the field, Buchan remained in the lead and carried himself nicely as the race quickly settled down, with Buchan enjoying a solid gap over Feeney, who had capitalised on Wood’s issues to move into second.

Although Buchan was posting decent laps, Feeney was slowly closing in on the Ferrari to put him and Schumacher in the best possible position heading into the pit stops.

Behind them, Wood was producing one of the drives of the season as he swiftly picked off drivers one by one before eventually getting the #88 Audi back up to fourth overall behind Alex Peroni in the #268 Team BRM Audi R8 LMS EVO II he shares with Mark Rosser when the mandatory pit stops rolled on.

When the Ams jumped behind the wheel, it was Campbell who ever so slightly led Schumacher out of the pit lane, while Brooks came out in third not far behind after Peroni and Rosser underwent their longer success pit stop.

While Schumacher would have hoped to make the pass on Campbell early and get clear air, the Zagame Autosport driver did an amazing job to defend, holding off Schumacher lap after lap.

The battle between the Ferrari and the Audi brought Brooks right into the fight for the race win, however Campbell was unable to hold on as Schumacher got the job done on lap 38.

Once he got past, he never looked back and Schumacher went on to charge home to the finish, while Brooks also managed to squeeze past Campbell not long after as a result of the latter going off track during the tussle.

While he was unable to hold on for the win or second place, it was a well-deserved maiden podium for Campbell and Buchan.

Finishing fourth were Valentino Astuti and Darren Currie in the #2 Trading Garage / Team BRM Audi R8 LMS EVO II – the pair picking up their best result of the year – while Leitch and co-driver Pires made up the top five ahead of the #26 ARGT Ferrari 296 GT3 of Jaxon Evans and Elliott Schutte.

Originally finishing in fifth place were Peroni and Rosser, however the pair were handed a post-race penalty and dropped down to seventh as a result.

In the Trophy Cup, Luke Youlden and Paul Stokell in the #71 AED Consulting by Tigani Motorsport enjoyed a highly straightforward victory as they led the class for every lap ahead of yesterday’s winners Matt Stoupas and Paul Stokell in the #24 KFC Team MPC Audi R8 LMS EVO II.

Following on from the win, Feeney and Schumacher now lead the Pro-Am standings, having replaced Rosser at the top of the leaderboard.

GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS continues in just over six weeks with Sydney Motorsport Park to host the fifth round of the 2026 season on 18–20 September.

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