Ryan Wood and Steve Brooks ended Friday fastest at Queensland Raceway as GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS opened its GT Festival Queensland weekend with three practice sessions. The #88 Wolfbrook Motorsport Team BRM Audi R8 LMS GT3 produced the quickest lap of the day, while the #181 OnlyFans Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Will Davison and Renee Gracie featured near the front throughout.

Evans and Schutte Lead Opening Practice

The opening practice session was briefly interrupted when the #24 KFC Team MPC Audi R8 LMS GT3 of Matthew Stoupas and Paul Stokell ran into the gravel at turn one.

Once the session resumed, Jaxon Evans and Elliott Schutte went fastest in the #26 ARGT Ferrari 296 GT3 with a 1:07.4700 lap.

Davison and Gracie finished second in the #181 Ferrari, just 0.2740 seconds behind, while current championship leaders Broc Feeney and Brad Schumacher placed third in the #1 Kelso Electrical Team MPC Audi R8 LMS GT3.

Gracie Fastest in Bronze Practice

The second practice session was reserved for Bronze-graded drivers and featured the day’s only other stoppage when Schumacher became stranded in the turn two gravel trap.

Renee Gracie topped the session in the #181 OnlyFans Racing Ferrari with a fastest lap of 1:07.7570.

Sergio Pires finished less than one-tenth of a second behind in the #44 Geyer Valmont Racing by Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 shared with Brendon Leitch. Paul Lucchitti was third in the #66 Move My Wheels by Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 he shares with Jayden Ojeda.

Wood Sets Friday’s Fastest Lap

The final practice session ran without interruption as teams focused on pit stop practice and longer race simulations.

Wood and Brooks moved to the top of the times in the #88 Wolfbrook Motorsport Team BRM Audi, with Wood setting Friday’s fastest lap of 1:06.9240.

The #181 OnlyFans Racing Ferrari of Davison and Gracie completed another strong session in second, while the #268 Team BRM Audi R8 LMS GT3 of Alex Peroni and Mark Rosser rounded out the top three.

Volante Rosso McLaren Withdrawn

The #15 Volante Rosso Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 of Josh Hunt and Geoff Emery has been withdrawn from the remainder of the weekend.

In a statement published on its official Facebook account, the team said: “Due to the ongoing global conflict, a major sponsor could not fulfil its agreed financial commitments.”

The withdrawal reduces the GT World Challenge Australia field to 14 cars for the weekend’s two races.

Photos by David Gallagher