The GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS season resumed at The Bend earlier this month with a star-studded field putting on a show for the fans.
However within the overall battle for Pro-Am and Trophy class honours was the exciting SRO GT Academy bout which saw three drivers add to their tallies in pursuit of the special prize – a fully-funded Silver Cup seat at the 2027 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
Introduced at the start of this year, SRO GT Academy creates a pathway for young talents to reach the top of global GT racing through skill, dedication and professionalism, with this year’s special prize to see one of three GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS drivers to compete.
Open to FIA Silver-graded drivers under the age of 30, points will be awarded based on qualifying pace, average stint times and sportsmanship as opposed to just results, and after the completion of the second round, it’s Oscar Targett who is on top of the standings.
Racing in GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS for the first time in 2026, Targett pilots the #56 Kollosche AMG By Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 alongside Shane Smollen and has delivered plenty of good performances across the opening two rounds.
Following a busy season opener at Phillip Island, Targett led fellow SRO GT Academy competitors Valentino Astuti and Alex Gardner on the standings and extended his lead after another dominant weekend in South Australia.
His perfect weekend began in Qualifying when his time of 1:42.4315 ended up fastest of the three drivers, with Astuti next quickest almost five tenths off, while Gardner rounded out the three.
In the opening race on Saturday, Targett produced the fastest lap of the three during his stint, which was seven tenths faster than Astuti, and went on to produce the fastest average of the three drivers before eventually securing a podium finish alongside Smollen.
It was a similar story on the Sunday as Targett scored the fastest lap and the fastest race average of the three, with Astuti again leading Gardner on both fronts.
With 12 points being awarded for each of the evaluated categories, Targett ended the weekend with a maximum 72 points and doubling his season tally to 144 points – 36 points to the better of Astuti in second.
Astuti himself banked solid points in the #2 Team MPC Audi R8 LMS EVO II he shares with Darren Currie, placing second in all six categories from the weekend to leave The Bend with an overall pointscore of 108.
In the #15 Volante Rosso Motorsport Aston Martin AMR Vantage GT3, Gardner racked up 42 points over the course of the weekend to finish the round on 84 points – 60 points off the leader in Targett.
With four rounds still remaining in the season and up to 72 points available per round, there is still everything to race for in 2026 with the trio all very much still in the hunt.
All three drivers will again be in action next month for GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS’ visit to Queensland Raceway as part of the Shannons SpeedSeries on June 12-14.
