Julian Fameliaris consolidated his position at the top of the Mobil 1 V8 Supercars GT Championship this past weekend (16-17 June) with a victorious display at Aldo Scribante Racetrack.
While Friday saw him down on defending champion Mackie Adlem’s pace, his fortunes turned on Saturday morning. Adlem set the fastest time in Qualifying but also incurred a penalty which promoted the Lube-Net / Di Matteo Racing / Gavin Wilkins Racing Chevrolet Corvette driver to pole position.
The first race saw the points leader take a lights-to-flag win while also taking the point for the fastest lap of the day. However, Race 2 saw Fameliaris braking late into Turn 1, going off circuit, recover and drop to the back of the pack.
With only 12 laps, he knew that his chances to make up ground would be near-to-none, but he banked a host of flying laps to bring down the gap while finishing in fourth place. The trio ahead of him were consumed in their own battle, and with clean air ahead, Fameliaris set an aggregate race time that saw him pip Race 2 winner Thomas Reib to the overall win.
“A rollercoaster day indeed, but we came home smiling,” said Fameliaris. “After going off track in Race 2, I kept my composure and focussed on just putting in the fast laps. With no comms to the pits, I didn’t know what the state of play was, but I knew the only way I could make up ground was by going for the overall win. Only in the closing stages did I realise I might be in with a real shot here. Thank you to everyone who made this weekend possible.”
Round 5 of the 2023 Mobil 1 V8 Supercars championship will see the series return to Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit on 25-26 August as part of the annual Festival of Motoring event.
Published by: Motorsport Fanatix
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