Allan Simonsen won the 2007 Australian GT Championship title in spectacular fashion at the weekend's final round, the Sandown GT Classic, aboard the Black Coopers/Sirena Ferrari F430.

Allan Simonsen won the 2007 Australian GT Championship at the weekend, in spectacular fashion, at the Sandown GT Classic, aboard the Black Coopers/Sirena Ferrari F430. He was partnered with open wheeler star Tim Leahey for the three and a half hour enduro.

Simonsen had gone into the final race of the year with identical points to his main rival, Bryce Washington – it had been a fairly tense affair for the newly crowned champion, in the lead up to the event, after enduring the pain of engine woes at the Oran Park round, four weeks earlier. A faulty cam actuator had robbed him of vital horsepower so needed at the Sydney circuit. With Australian GT rules forcing each driver to drop their worst round, it was a difficult situation for the Dane, who realistically had not suffered a dud round all season, unlike Washington (Clipsal 500).

The Coopers Ferrari had been quickest in all three practice sessions and Simonsen also won the pole. The race got underway at 12.30pm with Simonsen maintaining the lead at the first corner, whilst Washington quickly disposed of Dave Wall's Porsche RSR, to slip into second place. But it wasn't to be for long – early into the second lap Washington's Rieter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo stopped on the back part of the circuit. A seal had ruptured spraying fuel onto hot engine components forcing Byrce to make a hasty exit from the alternative Italian race car.

Despite Washington's DNF disaster, he could still actually win the championship – by dropping this round and with Simonsen's worst result being a significant amount of points, the Dane would need to finish strongly, even after adding his three points for pole. And then suddenly, Wall was on the back of Simonsen and it looked like being a strong contest for here on in. But just as amazingly, the Porsche suddenly snapped a lower control arm, forcing him to pit for lengthy repairs. Simonsen went on to dominate the event, lapping the entire field within fifty minutes. The pitstops were flawless and co-driver Tim Leahey did everything that could be asked of him. As the clock struck 4pm, Simonsen was two laps ahead of the second Lamborghini of Ian Palmer and Paul Stokell. John Tuelan and V8 Supercar regular Steve Johnson, who also appeared to really enjoy his GT experience, rounded out the top three.

"It's great to finally put the championship in the bag," said an emotional Simonsen. "Obviously I would have enjoyed racing Bryce and David to the flag but it wasn't to be. That's a pity because they have been fierce competitors all year and it's not the way a driver really likes to win a race. That's how ended up today, though. I must say a special thanks, firstly, to the everyone at Sportiva Machinna – they worked really hard to get our Ferrari 430 on the pace. Naturally this would have never been possible without the vital support and belief from Coopers and Sirena. I am proud to be able to have fulfilled their dreams.

!Everyone at Consolidated Chemical Company needs a mention. We started the season off with a high, at A1GP and then onto Clipsal 500 with the 360GT. It was a tough call to change teams half way through the year, after coming back from an extended stint in Europe, but I felt the 430 was the way to go as the faster tracks came around. It turned out to be the right call but both teams should feel like they were part of the entire result. And finally, it was great to have Campbell Little here from Triple Eight with his top guys – we worked very well together at Bathurst, earlier this year, with the Team Vodafone V8 Supercar and I am so pleased they could come along and be part of the winning team. They really all looked like they were enjoying themselves at this GT event. For me that is very pleasing." Allan will now return to Denmark for a well earned rest with family and friend before announcing his 2008 plans at Autosport International, in early January.

QUALIFYING

The Sirena Racing Ferrari 430 of Allan Simonsen/Tim Leahy topped the time sheets in the combined (two) qualifying sessions for the Sandown GT Classic that is the final round of the 2007 Australian GT Championship. The Simonsen car posted a lap time of 1:11.554 around the Melbourne circuit just .2025 seconds faster than the father and son entry of Des and David Wall in their Porsche GT3 RSR. Third fastest was the Natrad Lamborghini Gallardo of Bryce Washington/Michael Trimble with a best lap of 1:11.8294 followed by the other Gallardo in the field, the Ian Palmer/Paul Stokell Palmer Steel Industries entry.

John Teulan/Steve Johnson posted 5th fastest time in their Ferrari 430 followed by the Ted Huglin/Craig Baird/Andy Knight Consolidated Chemical Company sponsored Ferrari 360GT. Rounding out the top ten qualifying performances were Simon Middleton (Porsche GT3 RSR), Peter Lucas (Lotus Elise) and Jon Trende/Dean Fiore, being the fastest of the Porsche GT3 Cup Cars. As predicted the John Kaias/Will Davison Aston Martin DBRS9, albeit only running on 10 of its 12 cylinders, took to the circuit to bed in brakes ahead of receiving a new ECU engine management system that was due to arrive from Prodrive Aston Martin in the UK the next morning. Another car that was having major work done prior to the start of the three and a half hour Sandown GT Classic enduro was the Lotus Exige GT3 of Angelo Lazaris/Warren Luff with a replacement engine being fitted after suffering from persistent over-heating with the original power plant. Team Manager for the Zagame Lotus team Arthur Magaitis reported that the car had been suffering ‘temperature spikes’ that may have been as a result of radiator or head gasket issues, hence the decision to do the engine swap.

RACE

Allan Simonsen together with co-driver Tim Leahey in the Sirena took outright victory on Sunday in the Sandown GT Classic thus ensuring that Simonsen also took out the 2007 Australian GT Championship title. Arch rival for the Championship title, South Australia’s Bryce Washington who was paired with Michael Trimble for the Sandown enduro literally saw his aspirations go up in smoke when the NATRAD Lamborghini caught fire after only completing one full lap of the Melbourne circuit. Taking a fine second place was the Palmer Steel Industries sponsored Lamborghini of Ian Palmer and Paul Stokell with the Industry Central, Stahlwille Ferrari 430 of John Teulan and V8 Supercar driver Steve Johnson in third.

Porsche GT3 Cup Cars filled positions four to six in the order of the Cooks Constructions car of Jon Trende/Sven Burchartz/Dean Fiore – the Oxford Tavern Woolongong car of Anthony Kosseris/ Matthew Hunt, - and the Taplin Real Estate ANZ Banking car of Andrew Taplin/Dean Evans. Next home in seventh position was the Aston Martin DBRS9 of John Kaias/Will Davison that despite the new ECU flown in from the UK still was down on power with a mysterious electrical problem, and also lost further time when Kaias visited the sand trap at turn 11. The Zagame Lotus Exige GT3 of Angelo Lazaris/Warren Luff came home in 8th position down on power as a result of a fuel pressure issue that occurred after an engine and radiator swap before the start of the race. In 9th was Jaylec/Buzza Auto Electrics Porsche GT3 Cup Car of Peter Fountas/Matthew Coleman/Garth Rainsbury with the Quarter Back Ferrari 360 Challenge of Mark Eddy/Dean Grant in tenth spot. Damien Flack/Ash Samardi/Marc Cini finished 11th in their Nexus Cleaning Roock Porsche GT3 Cup Car, followed by the Urban Arrangement Lotus Elise driven by Peter Lucas and Scott Bargwanna in 12th. The much fancied father and son team of Des and David Wall in their World of Learning Porsche GT3 RSR finished in thirteenth position after breaking a rear control arm, but did have the satisfaction of setting the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1:13.3227 after rejoining the event. In addition to the Washington Lamborghini Gallardo, other non finishers were Paul Tresidder/Max Twigg in their Porsche GT3 Cup Car and the Ted Huglin/Craig Baird/Andy Knight Ferrari 360GT that suffered an alternator issue. The winning car of Simonsen/Leahey covered 158 laps.

2007 AUSTRALIAN GT CHAMPIONSHIP (FINAL) CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS
Position/Driver/Team/Car/Points
1 Allan Simonsen Coopers/Sirena Racing Ferrari 430 GT3 695
2 Bryce Washington Natrad Racing Lamborghini Gallardo 662
3 David Wall World of Learning Porsche GT3 RSR 565