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Bathurst podium for EMA Motorsport starts GT World Challenge Australia season

The first meeting of the 2023 Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS visited Mount Panorama, Bathurst last weekend, and EMA Motorsport returned to the podium with a strong opening to the season. Yasser Shahin and teammate Garnet Patterson opened their 2023 account with a P2 finish in the first race of the weekend, followed by a top-5 finish during the second sprint race. The combined results in the EMA Motorsport / The Bend Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R scored the pair an overall podium finish for the weekend to set up a strong foundation for the season.

The weekend got underway in extremely wet conditions, as the 911 GT3 R returned to the Mountain just weeks after claiming an outright podium result at the 12 Hour event. Now running with the bold livery of The Bend Motorsport Park, and wearing the #1 of the reigning series champion, pace for Yasser and Garnet steadily improved across the sessions. The pair secured a second row start for the opening race, and P6 for the second.

Pace for both drivers was extremely strong during the first event, as Yasser made a pass to move into the podium positions in the opening stint. This was then followed by Garnet in the closing stages after the pitstop, making a pass at the Elbow to take P2 at the line.

Race 2 saw a blistering start by Garnet, gaining two positions by the end of Mountain Straight, and looking to keep the pressure on the lead group. Despite the cold temperatures, the young driver from New South Wales stayed in contention, firmly under the rear wing of the final podium position in the closing laps of his stint. He pitted as part of the lead group, where all four cars headed for a driver change, and Yasser returned to the track having gained a position.

Such was the pace of Yasser in the #1 GT3 R that he then closed down the leaders, and repeated his teammate’s move at the Elbow from race 1, to move up to P2. From here, the pace over the top of Mountain saw the gap to the leader steadily reduced, lap on lap. However, this charge was temporarily halted with 10 minutes to go, after a drive through penalty for a pitstop infringement, dropping the team down to P6. Despite this setback, Yasser kept his focus, and continued to deliver impressive laptimes and recovered to P5 at the flag. The final result, combined with race 1, saw EMA Motorsport / The Bend Motorsport finish P2 overall for the weekend.

The series now heads to Western Australia for round 2, as the Perth Supersprint takes place, 28-30 April.