Quinn clinches third Australian GT title at Highlands

Klark Quinn’s third place finish in the final race of the Australian GT Championship at Highlands Motorsport Park was good enough to clinch his third title. Elliot Barbour and Nathan Antunes led the field home with Kiwi driver Craig Baird and Michael Almond in second.

However all eyes were on Quinn and his nearest title challenger Nathan Morcom, who started the second race of the afternoon from the back of the field after a dramatic finish to the opening race of the day.

Quinn was leading the first race when Morcom made contact with him on the third last corner, forcing him into the gravel trap and ending his race. Morcom took the chequered flag but an hour after the race finished the stewards excluded Morcom from the race for making ‘avoidable contact’. His penalty was to start from the back of the grid in race two, plus ten seconds added to his controlled pitstop time.

“It’s been a crazy few hours,” said Morcom. “We managed to keep in front of Klark for most of the race but it wasn't enough. It’s disappointing to come so close but I’m pretty stoked to come second in my first year competing for the championship. I didn’t agree 100 per cent with the penalty. I went for a move and you’ve got to go for a gap if you think it’s on. I didn't think it was reckless.”

Klark Quinn had a slightly different view of the incident.

“I knew Nathan was there but I didn't think the move was on,” he said. “I was just about to turn into the apex and I started coming off the brake when Nathan tagged me. I was just a passenger after that.”

“In the second race Nathan and I had a big job ahead of us, starting from the back of the pack. Nathan was giving it everything and he did a great job to drive through the field from last to first. I was just trying to keep up with him. I saw he did a bit of damage to his car and that gave us the opportunity to get ahead of him when he came into the pits. I knew I just had to stay ahead of him and do nothing silly to win the championship but those last ten minutes were intense.”

Quinn led the field in the closing minutes until a safety car condensed the field. When the race resumed a bad restart saw him overtaken by Nathan Antunes and Craig Baird, but Quinn managed to hold off a hard charging Greg Murphy and Garth Tander for third. Morcom finished in seventh.

“I’ve done some 24 hour races and that was like a 24 hour race condensed into 60 minutes,” said Quinn. “I got a really bad start after the safety car but I managed to hang on. It’s been a day of highs and lows but I’m so happy with how it’s turned out. I said at the start of the year that I wasn't out to win the championship. My day job is making confectionary so to do this is very special.”

Quinn’s win continues a remarkable winning streak for the Quinn family around the Highlands circuit. Highlands circuit owner, Tony Quinn won the first two Highlands 101 events in 2014 and 2015, while his son Klark teamed up with Shane van Gisbergen to win last year’s 101.

Attention now turns to tomorrow’s feature race, the Highlands 101, a three hour endurance race featuring some interesting pro-am combinations. Klark Quinn will pair up with Kiwi drifting star ‘Mad Mike’ Whiddett who impressed on his circuit racing debut at the Hampton Downs 101 a fortnight ago.

Other Kiwi drivers involved include Greg Murphy who will share the driving duties with Highlands owner, Tony Quinn. Craig Baird had a great day in the Mercedes AMG, teaming up with Michael Almond for a first and second while Kiwi driver Dominic Story and Peter Hackett will also fancy their chances in the 101 after sitting out today’s sprint races.

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