GWR Australia/RAM Motorsport will make its long-awaited return to GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS this month with Michael Sheargold and Brett Hobson confirmed for the Sydney and Adelaide rounds.
The pair will be behind the wheel of Sheargold’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO and bring plenty of experience to the table as they tackle the Am Cup in the final two rounds of the 2026 season.
Both drivers will be familiar to GT World Challenge Australia fans after each has had stints in the series over the past few years, with Sheargold the most recent of the two to compete in the series.
Sheargold last ran in 2024 where he and team boss Garth Walden enjoyed a dominant campaign in the same Mercedes-AMG that Sheargold and Hobson will run this year, with the duo securing the Am Sprint Cup title courtesy of three wins, a further six podiums and four pole positions - their closest competitor being more than 50 points off the mark.
In addition to that impressive Sprint Cup title, Sheargold and Walden also claimed the final Endurance race in the Am Cup of the 2024 season.
Outside of that memorable season, the majority of Sheargold’s racing experience comes in GT and production car racing having made his national debut in 2020. It didn’t take long for him to secure a major piece of silverware as he and Hobson took out the A1 class victory at the popular Bathurst 6 Hour in 2021 alongside Oliver Shannon.
Sheargold then went back-to-back in 2022 after he, Shannon and Dylan O'Keeffe took out the A1 title again, while also finishing second in the GT World Challenge Australia Am Cup that season. More strong results followed in 2023 with a runner-up finish in the Bathurst 6 Hour A1 class and third place overall in GT World Challenge Australia Am Cup again.
Last year, Sheargold reduced his racing and focused on singular endurance events, coming third in the A1 class at the Bathurst 6 Hour before making his international debut alongside Hobson, Justin McMillan, Glen Wood and Walden in the Dubai 24hr and the 6H Abu Dhabi as part of the 2025 24H Series Middle East Trophy, where they finished 3rd in class.
Hobson enters the event with more than 150 races under his belt both in Australia and overseas as part of the career that spans more than two decades.
His most recent outing came in this year’s Meguiar's Bathurst 12 Hour, the opening round of the 2026 Intercontinental GT Challenge, where he, Walden and O'Keeffe scored a GT3 class win behind the wheel of Sheargold’s Mercedes-AMG - a result that came on his fourth attempt having first debuted in the famous event in 2017.
Over the past six years, Hobson ran multiple times with Sheargold in the Bathurst 6 Hour, while also competing in GT World Challenge Australia for a number of seasons alongside multiple co-drivers - his best two seasons coming in 2021 - his most prolific result being a second place overall in the Trophy class.
Before Hobson made a serious move into GT racing at the start of this decade following brief stints previously, he made a name for himself in the Australian Formula Ford and in Supercars’ development series between 2004 and 2008 before taking a hiatus from the sport for a handful of years.
Hobson eventually returned to Super2 in 2014 where he spent a couple of years before stepping away from the series to focus on other endeavours.
Both drivers make their grand return to GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS as part of the Shannons SpeedSeries round at Sydney Motorsport Park from 18-20 September.
QUOTES
Michael Sheargold
#45 GWR Australia/RAM Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO
"It's been two years since my last GTWC round and I've missed it - it’s nice to be able to come back to a circuit I know pretty well at SMSP and then Adelaide is one of the best events on the Australian motorsport calendar, I'm under no illusions about where the field is at, but I'm looking forward to it enormously,” said Sheargold.
"I've always intended to get back on track when the circumstances were right, and I'm in a good spot now, so a couple of rounds at the end of 2026 felt like a fun hit out.
“Garth and I won the Am Cup at Bathurst in November 2024, so the experience is there. But the field has moved on since then and two years out of a GT3 car is two years out of a GT3 car.
"Brett and I have done a bit of endurance racing together - Dubai 24 Hour, Bathurst 12 Hour - but never a GTWC round. He’s a great mate and there is plenty I can learn from him, we had tried to stitch a full season together in 2025 and it didn't come to fruition, so we were both keen to finally get in the car together for a few rounds of GTWC.
"The AMG is a known quantity and GWR prepare it properly. Testing went well - I've been out of the car a long time and I was happy with where I got back to by the end of the day. There's more to find, it’s not quite like riding a bike but let’s just say I haven’t forgotten everything!
“I’m hoping to get through both weekends without hurting the car, build the laps back up, and give Brett a car in good shape for his stints. If we're respectable on pace by the end of it, that's the job done. Anything beyond that is a bonus.
"Thanks to Brett, Garth and the GWR crew making it happen. Thanks also to Oilstar and National Make Good Solutions for supporting the return."
Brett Hobson
#45 GWR Australia/RAM Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO
“After being sidelined last year due to an issue with our driver pairing and then this year to some unforeseen issues we thought it was a great time to re-visit our racing venture together to try and start aligning a program for next year,” said Hobson.
“After a three-year hiatus from the series I feel I was losing touch with my racing ability and needed to get back in the seat or I was running the risk of becoming somewhat washed up.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back racing with the series and feel this will be a good test run the make sure that I have not lost any of my ability in a GT car.
“My main objective is to go out and race as hard as I can without trying to upset to many people and hand the car over to Mike in the best possible position I can manage.
“I really enjoy racing with Mike, we are good friends off track which makes our dynamic work, not only do I get to drive a cool race car on the weekend and also get to hangout with a mate and that’s the main reason for the return.
“This is the same car that we won Pro-Am in at the Bathurst 12 this year, so my backside is somewhat familiar with the seat. I know that RAM Motorsport and GWR turnout a well prepared race car, so I feel that we have the ability to re-live some more great moments together.
“I’m looking forward to working with the team at GWR and RAM again on race weekends. I’m keen to see where my pace ends up relative to the other competitors.”