GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS will welcome a fresh line up for its visit to Sydney Motorsport Park with Tom McLennan and Andrew Georgiadis set to make their Pro-Am debuts in the series at the penultimate round.
Behind the wheel of the McLennan Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (991.2) in a fresh interpretation of the classic pink livery, McLennan and Georgiadis will tackle the round in the Pro-Am class under the stewardship of the highly esteemed Earl Bamber Motorsport.
While Sydney won’t be McLennan’s maiden appearance in GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS, it will be his first time in the Pro-Am class having scored podiums in the Trophy Class back in 2023.
He has also featured multiple times in SRO Motorsports Australia’s fast-growing Monochrome GT4 Australia series, having debuted in 2024 with an impressive part-time campaign where he stood on the Silver podium in his first four races in the series.
At the time, linking up with Nathan Morcom in the Method Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 in Tailem Bend, the duo scored a class pole position before registering a well-deserved second and third place across the two races. They then enjoyed an almost-perfect weekend the following round in Queensland when McLennan himself put the McLaren on pole in Qualifying as they secured a clean sweep of class wins.
McLennan then joined Zoe Woods in the TekworkX Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS for the first ever SRO Motorsports Australia run event, the 2024 GT Festival Phillip Island - their best result being seventh in class.
The Queenslander next appeared in the series earlier this year at The Bend alongside Dean Campbell in the Method Motorsport Ford Mustang GT4, however, his return was short-lived after a Qualifying incident.
Outside of his minor stints in Monochrome GT4 Australia, McLennan has raced in a number of national categories including Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia, Formula Ford Australia, Formula Regional Oceania, the Bathurst 6 Hour and more recently, Porsche Carrera Cup Australia.
As for Georgiadis, the majority of his driving has come in the Porsche one-make series in Australia having begun his racing career as recently as 2024.
Since the start of his motorsport journey, Georgiadis has enjoyed no shortage of success over the past three years and has been a regular presence on class podiums.
Debuting in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia at Phillip Island in 2024, Georgiadis had a steady start to his career in the Pro-Am class during the opening two rounds before kicking into gear from the third round onwards where he secured six class podiums in nine races - two of which were class victories.
He remained in the series last year, picking up a further six class podiums and eight top-five Pro-Am placings in 17 races before making the step up to Carrera Cup for the 2026 season.
Like his debut season in Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia, Georgiadis took a couple of races to settle in, but he came into his own recently at Round 3 Queensland Raceway where he scored his first class win in race two having picked up a pole position earlier in the weekend.
The pair’s GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS campaign will begin at Sydney Motorsport Park on 18-20 September with the hopes of contesting the season-ending round at the Adelaide Grand Final.
QUOTES
Tom McLennan
#81 Earl Bamber Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (991.2)
“I’ve done two test days in the new Porsche at Queensland Raceway and I’m really excited to make my GT3 debut,” said McLennan.
“I can’t wait to get down there just to figure how the Porsche handles a real high speed track. There’s similarities between the GT3-specification and a Cup Car at Queensland Raceway, but in Sydney it’s going to be totally different due to the high-speed nature of the layout. I’ve heard Turn 1 is flat, so that will be exciting in a GT3R.
“I’ve never raced in GT3 before, but I’m excited for it and to compete against some of the leading Supercars drivers is an awesome opportunity.
“Andrew is no slouch; he’s a gun in Carrera Cup and I believe he’ll adapt well to the GT3.
“SRO Motorsport Australia run a very good series and I enjoyed racing in GT4 when I’ve competed previously. I like the format of two one-hour races and being able to share the driving duties is an attractive proposition."
Andrew Georgiadis
#81 Earl Bamber Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R (991.2)
“It’s an unreal experience to drive the new 911 GT3 R,” said Georgiadis.
The car is brilliant and the aero is something that I’m going to have to get used to.
“It’s a very, very quick package and obviously, the braking marker gets pushed back a bit further, so I just need to put my trust in it. We have some test days coming up, so we hopefully can dial ourselves in and prepare intricately.
“Partnering up with a co-driver is the most exciting part for me because I haven’t done that at this level before. Tom knows how to steer a car well and he’s vastly experienced, so I’m excited to learn along the way.”