Experienced New Zealand racer Steve Brooks will team with Australia Porsche stalwart Nick McBride in the second round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS at The Bend this weekend.
Brooks and McBride will drive an Audi R8 LMS Evo II, prepared by Melbourne Performance Centre.
The car was last seen competing in the Bathurst 12 Hour, finishing third outright in the hands of Kelvin van der Linde, Christopher Haase and Liam Talbot.
The entry will mark Brooks’ first GT3 race in Australia and his first-ever visit to The Bend.
While Brook is new to GT3 racing in Australia, he knows his way around Audi GT3s.
On Saturday, he finished fifth in the 3-hour race of Round 2 of the North Island Endurance Series in an Audi R8 at Taupo International Motorsport Park, following a podium in Round 1 at Hampton Downs.
He was also elevated to 1-Hour victory alongside driving partner Bill Riding, albeit in a Porsche, after provisional winner Seb Manson was disqualified post-race for an underweight car.
“I’ve raced GTs in New Zealand previously in the South Island Endurance Series and drove an Audi in Tony Quinn’s six-hour event at Highlands, plus even gave the Bathurst 6-Hour a go, but we broke a driveshaft an hour in,” said Brooks.
“I love the Audi. I think out of all the GT3 models, the Audi is really good value for money and, in my opinion, outperforms the other brands. The Audi here in New Zealand is consistently first or second in those conditions, so it’s part of the reason I’ll jump into one of those in Australia.
“Never been to The Bend. I’m looking forward to checking out the facility, it’s an amazing venue and it’s been done well, plus the museum is pretty cool I hear.
“I’m looking forward to working with Nick, studying his data and seeing how we can improve.”
McBride is no stranger to sports car racing, having competed in the competitive Carrera Cup championship since 2014.
The Victorian has finished with a best-season result of fourth outright on three occasions (2016, 2017 and 2019).
This year, McBride is racing in the Carrera Cup with Melbourne Performance Centre, and that association was the catalyst for his partnership with Brooks.
“I’m really excited for the opportunity and a new challenge driving an Audi R8 GT3 at The Bend this weekend,” said McBride.
“I’ve never been around The Bend short track, and I’ve never driven a GT3 car before, so this will be an all-new experience and a great chance to try something a little different.
“I watched the opening round from Phillip Island on the television, and I had some serious FOMO. It looked like so much fun.
“The GT3 races are really interesting, with Ams starting one day and the Pros the next day. I love the team aspect of it. We don’t get that so much in the Carrera Cup. We are generally out there in Sprint races, so it will be cool to team up with someone else and have the team make an impact in the races.
“I have no idea what to expect. It will be a huge learning curve, but I’m just going in with eyes wide open.”
The second round of Fanatec GT Australia will be held on The Bend’s West circuit layout. It will feature two one-hour races on Saturday and Sunday.
Also featured in the field is Kiwi Jaxon Evans and the pairing of Tim Miles and Brendon Leitch.
New Zealanders will be able to watch the races live on the GT World YouTube channel.
Velocity News’s weekly Motorsport Diary on Friday will feature timing information and a link to the stream.
