McLaughlan claims maiden Australian GT Championship win in Barbagallo

Steve McLaughlan has won the opening CAMS Australian GT Championship race of the weekend at Barbagallo, sealing his first Championship victory in the process.

McLaughlan moved into the lead shortly after half distance, and looked safe with a commanding ten second lead before a late race safety car set up a grandstand finish.

The Jamec Pem Audi Sport Customer Racing driver was millimetre to take the flag by almost five seconds after the hour long encounter.

McLaughlan’s team-mate, Marco Bonanomi, had taken control of the race in the early stages, easing away at the front of the field in slippery conditions.

A safety car at the 20-minute mark however saw that lead evaporate, and triggered a wave of pit activity.

Having started wet, the circuit had quickly dried, prompting a number of runners into the lane to switch to slick tyres under the safety car.

Bonanomi, Jonathon Webb and Nathan Antunes all rolled the dice, conceding track position in favour of slick Pirelli P-Zero tyres just minutes before the pit stop window opened.

A slow stop cost Antunes a lap in the process while Bonanomi fell down the order, promoting Barton Mawer into the lead.

Bonanomi though made swift progress back up the order and handed the car to Geoff Emery from the lead after 29 laps, having run as low as 16th just ten laps earlier.

After the stop Emery re-joined ninth and climbed to a solid sixth place by the finish.

The safety car played into the hands of McLaughlan and Tony Quinn; both moved to the head of the field after the pit stop cycle.

A second race safety car, triggered when Greg Taylor and Max Twigg found the same piece of race track, set up a ten-minute sprint to the finish.

From the restart McLaughlan was inch perfect, edging away to win by a comfortable margin over Nathan Morcom.

“The team gave me a lap time and I just drove to it,” McLaughlan said of his final stint. “They pulled a masterstroke bringing us into the pits when they did, and that really made our race.”

At the final restart McLaughlan found himself defending the lead against the lapped car of Ricky Capo, who was looking to make up ground following an earlier spin.

“They told me he was a lap down and to let him go, but he was a good yardstick,” McLaughlan explained.

“If I’d let him go it would have been easy to make a mistake, so he helped keep me focussed!”

Tony Quinn couldn't hold on in the final laps and fell to eighth, promoting Morcom and Marshall, who'd recovered following a spin while chasing Quinn earlier in the race.

McLaughlan will now start from pole position in Race 2 of the CAMS Australian GT Championship at Barbagallo, scheduled for 11:25 on Sunday.

The final race of Round 3 will be broadcast live on Fox Sports, channel 506.