Alex Peroni and Mark Rosser win opening race of GT Festival The Bend Race

Team BRM’s Alex Peroni and Mark Rosser claimed a dominant victory in the opening race of GT Festival The Bend in what was their second GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS victory of the year.

Peroni and  Rosser produced an emphatic performance to win by 13 seconds after strong stints from both drivers, while Tigani Motorsport’s Theo and James Koundouris prevailed in the Am Class.

Finishing second for the outing were Pro-Am Championship leaders Jaxon Evans and Elliott Schutte in the Arise Racing GT Ferrari 296 GT3, while Brad Schumacher and Broc Feeney rounded out the podium in what was an entertaining battle between the two title rivals.

It was a largely drama-free start, with pole-sitter Liam Talbot in the Shannons Volante Rosso Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 making a flying start alongside Rosser, who had leapt past Brad Schumacher off the line. The pair quickly pulled a five-second gap on the chasing pack of Schumacher, Elliott Schutte and Renee Gracie in the Melbourne Performance Centre Audi R8 LMS EVO II.

The momentum shifted when Talbot suffered a huge moment, sliding off track and into the tyre wall, tumbling down the order as a result. The incident handed Rosser the lead, with the Audi pulling clear of Schumacher before Renee Gracie suffered a major moment of her own, the Audi R8 pilot sliding off and running into the dirt. Unlike Talbot, whose Aston Martin shed bodywork in the laps that followed, Gracie escaped with only minor damage.

Following that, the race settled into a groove as Rosser skipped away from the field before handing the car and a healthy lead to Peroni, maintaining a one-second lead over Schumacher.

With Broc Feeney and Jaxon Evans taking over from Brad Schumacher and Elliott Schutte at the pit window, the pair staged a highly entertaining fight for second place, with Evans executing a decisive move on Feeney to seal the position on lap 16.

Feeney did not lay down easily, piling heavy pressure on the Ferrari, but the battle only played into Peroni’s hands as he stretched his advantage at the front to a race-high 16 seconds over the two title contenders.

From there, Peroni cruised to victory as Evans and Feeney carried their battle to the chequered flag, Evans ultimately securing runner-up honours by two seconds.

Taking out fourth place a further four seconds behind was Melbourne Performance Centre’s Ryan Wood and Steve Brooks in their Audi R8 LMS Evo II, while Race 2 pole sitters Jayden Ojeda and Paul Lucchitti made it up to fifth after starting a number of positions lower.

After capitalising on Gracie’s off, the Koundouris brothers controlled the Am class race from the front and stormed to a commanding 22-second victory, sealing their first GT World Challenge Australia win of the season in emphatic style.

Rounding out the Am Cup podium, Ben Schoots and Shane Woodman brought the Black Wolf Motorsport.

Results are HERE