GWR Australia Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge drivers Ollie Shannon and Rob Woods both benefited from a productive test day at The Bend Motorsport Park last week, ahead of the sixth and final round of the season this weekend.
For Shannon, it will be just his second race meeting in a Porsche, but after a promising debut at Sandown, the 19-year-old is determined to continue his rapid improvement curve.
“The test day last week went well – I used it to get more comfortable in the car, and iron out some of the imperfections in my technique we found at Sandown,” Shannon said.
“The Tailem Bend circuit has acres of run-off, so I was able to find the grip limits of the Porsche in a controlled environment.
“I’m looking forward to trying to build on the momentum we have from my debut round, and trying to push further up the timesheets.”
For Woods, who welcomes new partners Humble Street Wear and Rampage for this weekend’s event, the test day allowed the Pro-Am Class contender to reacquaint himself with the complex circuit.
“I hadn’t raced at The Bend since the first round of the season last year, so the test day was really about me learning the track all over again,” he said.
“We had some early trouble with a blown clutch, but the GWR boys did a great job to replace it and get me back on track.
“After that, I was improving through the day – I went through some data with my driver coach Michael Almond, and I was able to take three seconds off my best time from last year!
“There’s still more time to find, but we’re committed to improving and I’m sure I will.
“My objective this weekend is to lock in fourth position in the Pro-Am Class for the season – that was the goal Garth and I set at the start of the year, so I just need to bring it home in each race.”
This weekend’s round will feature a condensed format, with practice and qualifying on Friday, and all three races on Saturday.
Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Round 6 schedule
Friday, 15 November
8:45am – Practice 1 (30 min)
11:00am – Practice 2 (30 min)
3:35pm – Qualifying (20 min)
Saturday, 16 November
9:00am – Race 1 (20 min)
11:45am – Race 2 (20 min)
3:40pm – Race 3 (20 min)
