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EMA Motorsport takes Perth GT World Challenge Australia victory

It was a case of west is best for EMA Motorsport, taking on round 2 of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS in Perth. Building on a strong opening weekend, the team went one step better, scoring the race win and a P4 finish at the Perth Supersprint event to claim overall victory for the event. This strong haul of points puts Yasser Shahin and Garnet Patterson in the #1 EMA Motorsport / The Bend Motorsport Park Porsche GT3 R just eight points off the lead of the championship.

After a solid qualifying, Yasser put the #1 Porsche on the second row of the grid for the weekend’s first race. Later on Saturday, he then took the race start, looking to make progress into the top-3 around the carco.com.au Raceway. Contact for the leading pack would reduce the gap ahead, and a shorter pitstop time meant that Garnet exited the pitlane holding the advantage. As the stops played out, the field was reshuffled, and Garnet assumed the lead, maintaining the gap to the chasing pack as he took the chequered flag. The result marked the team’s first championship win, and the first with the Porsche, while it was also the first for the brand in the Australian GT championship since 2018.

Starting from P7, Garnet made a solid start to the second race of the weekend, holding position and maintaining the fight as part of the lead pack. This set up a solid foundation for the second half of the race, handing over to Yasser who immediately looked to capitalise on the opportunity as he joined the action. Again, contact by the lead pack saw a place gained, while outright pace then enabled Yasser to close the gap and he made a pass into turn 1. From here, and now running in clear air, the green Porsche worked to reduce the deficit to the podium holding positions. A series of consistently quick laps saw this gap reduced by seven seconds over the closing laps, with Yasser crossing the line to round off the weekend with a P4 finish, securing top honours for the weekend overall.

The results now see the #1 EMA Motorsport / The Bend Motorsport Park driver duo on 67 points, just eight off the lead.

The Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS action returns in two weeks, as round 3 heads back east. The SpeedSeries Phillip Island event takes place, 12-14 May.