Tigani Motorsport has had a dream start to the Saturday action as Oscar Targett and Justin Tigani guided the #56 Kollosche AMG by Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 to a double Rowe Pole Position.
With Targett in the car for Qualifying 1, the rising star produced a solid lap in the final moments of the session to record a 1:08.455 to top the session in style, becoming the first SRO GT Academy driver to secure a pole position lap.
In what was a dramatic opening qualifying session, a red flag midway through the session forced cars back into the pits for a large chunk of time as the #14 Volante Rosso Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 ended up beached.
That red flag came at a time where a number of drivers hadn’t posted their proper times, adding a lot of pressure to the final minutes of the session - Jayden Ojeda in the #66 Move My Wheels by Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO setting the first benchmark lap following the restart.
Targett then produced a huge lap to secure pole position, with teammate Brendon Leitch securing a front-row start in the #44 Geyer Valmont Racing by Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 with a time just over one tenth of a second off the pace-setter.
Securing second-row starts for the session were Broc Feeney in the #1 Kelso Electrical Team MPC Audi R8 LMS EVO II, having been on top of the timesheets at the start of the session, and Will Davison in the #181 OnlyFans Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 - the two separated by merely three tenths of a second.
Taking out Trophy Class honours for the session was Luke Youlden in the #71 AED Consulting by Tigani Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R, with an impressive time of 1:09.4680 that edged out Paul Stokell in the #24 KFC Team MPC Audi R8 LMS EVO II.
In Qualifying 2, Targett’s teammate Justin Tigani replicated his pole-setting lap in the final stages, only this time, the series debutant managed to best Targett and post an unbeaten 1:07.587.
It was an incredible lap from Tigani, who has spent very little time in the Mercedes-AMG GT3, putting him in a commanding position for today’s race.
Starting next to him will be Renee Gracie in the #181 OnlyFans Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, after she missed out on her maiden Rowe Pole Position Award this season by just four hundredths of a second.
With Sergio Pires qualifying the #44 Mercedes-AMG to third and Schumacher steering the #1 Audi to fourth - it saw an unchanged line-up on the front two rows in both races.
Despite having a spin that brought out the red flag in Qualifying, Cameron Rees recovered nicely as he topped the Trophy Class in the Aston Martin - just four tenths off Nathan Halstead in the #71 Porsche.
GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS’ first race of the weekend takes place at 1:15pm AEST, which can be watched live on FOX SPORTS Australia and Kayo SPORTS.