Sergio Pires has picked up his first ever victory in GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS thanks to a faultless performance from him and teammate Brendon Leitch in race one of Round 2 The Bend.
Behind the wheel of the Geyer Valmont Racing by Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3, the pair led at every stage of the race to come away with a well-deserved one and a half second victory over Castrol Team BRM’s Thomas Randle and Mark Rosser in their Audi R8 LMS EVO II.
Rounding out the podium was ARGT’s Jaxon Evans and Elliott Schutte in the Ferrari 296 GT3 after holding off a fast charging Broc Feeney.
In the Trophy Cup, Paul Stokell and Matt Stoupas comfortably claimed the victory in their KFC Team MPC Audi R8 LMS EVO II having both produced solid stints behind the wheel.
However, while there was plenty to celebrate in the race - the day belonged to Pires, who set the tone in Qualifying earlier this morning with a memorable ROWE Pole Position Award.
The New South Welshman then had a perfect start as he led the field cleanly through the opening laps and settled into a rhythm in the opening stages of the affair.
Behind him, Brad Schumacher in the #1 Kelso Electrical Team MPC Audi R8 LMS EVO II he shares with Feeney, kept in touching distance of the leading Mercedes-AMG, staying between half a tenth and just over a second behind.
As Pires slowly built a gap on Schumacher, the reigning Pro-Am champion then made a rare misjudgement and ended up off the track and in the grass - the error dropping him to fourth place behind Rosser and Schutte.
By the time the pit stops came around, Pires, who had at one point in his stint built a lead of almost five seconds over Rosser, handed the car to Leitch in perfect condition and with a healthy gap.
The Kiwi then went on to steer the Mercedes-AMG home with little trouble as Randle did his best to chase him down in the second half, getting to within one and a half seconds, however it was too late in the end as Leitch brought the car to the chequered flag to complete a lights-out to chequered flag victory.
Randle also found a way to the finish line in comfortable fashion, as he crossed the line more than 15 seconds ahead of Evans in the Ferrari.
It was a much closer distance between Evans and Feeney who were separated by just six tenths of a second by the end of the race.
More than 20 seconds separated Feeney from the next group of cars, which was led by the OnlyFans Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Will Davison and Renee Gracie in fifth, while Team BRM /Wolfbrook Motorsport’s Ryan Wood and Steve Brooks in the Audi R8 LMS EVO II finished seven tenths behind the Ferrari and three tenths ahead of the Move My Wheels by Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Jayden Ojeda and Paul Lucchitti, who start tomorrow’s race from pole.
Team BRM’s Garnet Patterson and JP Drake ended the day in eighth in their Audi R8 LMS EVO II after some decent moves throughout the race, while Oscar Targett and
Shane Smollen managed to bring the Kollosche AMG by Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 home in ninth after received a drive-through penalty early on in the race.
Although he finished ninth, Targett still topped the SRO GT Academy drivers for the race as he looks to secure a fully-funded seat for the 2027 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
Rounding out the top 10 was Josh Buchan and Cameron Campbell in the Zagame Autosport Ferrari 296 GT3.
As for the Trophy Cup, Matthew Stoupas and Paul Stokell enjoyed a nine-second victory over the AED Consulting by Tigani Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R of Luke
Youlden and Nathan Halstead, who enjoyed a 35-second buffer over Alex Gardner and Ben Porter in the Volante Rosso Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3.
The next action continues tomorrow with the final race of the weekend at 2:10pm ACST, which fans can watch live and free via FOX SPORTS and Kayo SPORTS or GT World for international viewers.