Melbourne: Baird Qualifies on Pole Australian GT Championship Round 2
Craig Baird has qualified on pole for Race 1 of the Vodka O Australian GT Championship to be held at Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit tomorrow (Friday March 27, 2009) as part of the FORMULA 1 ING Australian Grand Prix.
Driving the seven litre Mosler MT900 GT3 Baird recorded the fastest lap with a time of 1:59.0091 but certainly didn’t have things all his own way during the 20 minute session.
David Wall in the Porsche GT3 Cup S held the pole position until late in the session and finished second fastest with a time of 1:59.8337.
Baird left it late in the session to respond to the Porsche challenge and had headlights flashing as he weaved through traffic and finally took charge on his sixth and final lap. Wall posted his best time on lap 3.
Third fastest was the mercurial Jim Richards (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup Car) with a time of 2:00.4984 followed by the Aston Martin of Tony Quinn who stopped the clocks at 2:00.5701.
Hector Lestor (Ferrari 430 GT3), Mark Eddy (Lamborghini Gallardo GT3), and Dean Grant (Lamborghini Gallardo GT3) qualified in 5th, 6th, and 7th respectively.
In the GT Challenge division Klark Quinn (Porsche GT3 Cup Car) maintained his form from practice to be the fastest with a time of 2:02.9349 followed by Jordan Ormsby (Porsche GT3 RS), and Jeffrey Bobik (Porsche GT3 Cup Car).
Leading the qualifying times in GT Production it was Beric Lynton (BMW M3) with a time of 2:14.1258 followed by Barrie Nesbitt (Monaro GTS Coupe), and Paul Freestone (Chevrolet Corvette).
Qualifying Notes:
Justin Levis (Lotus Elise HP) spun on lap 2
Craig Baird (Mosler) in pits after lap 2
Fraser Kirchner (Porsche GT3 Cup Car) off track on lap 3
Keith Wong (Ferrari 360 Challenge) locked up in turn 1 on lap 4
Richard Kimber (Porsche GT Cup Car) spun lap 5
Craig Baird (Mosler) rejoins sessions with only 4 minutes 30 seconds to go
Justin Levis (Lotus Elsie HP) gets on dirty track to let Baird through and spins
Nick O’Halloran (Ferrari 430 GT3) off track in last minute of qualifying.
Race 1 of the Vodka O Australian GT Championship at the ING Australian Grand Prix will be held (Friday March 27) at 11am. The race is over 8 laps.
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