After a whirlwind start to his new career as a GT competitor, Hong Kong’s Matt Solomon will make his second start in the competitive Australian GT Championship this weekend on the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, the scene of the opening Formula 1 Grand Prix of the season.

The former open-wheel star made his debut in the #38 Geelong Sales Company Mercedes-AMG GT3 just two weeks ago on the streets of Adelaide, and despite an intense baptism of fire, emerged relatively unscathed with an impressive run in the final 40-minute race to climb from 21st to third at the chequered flag.

This week the former open-wheel star claims another first, this time on the hallowed Formula 1 turf of Albert Park where he will rejoin the Eggleston Motorsport team for the second round of the Australian Championships for four 25-minute races across the four days of the season opening F1 event.

“Excitement is a word I’ve used a lot over the last couple of weeks to describe what’s going on,” Solomon admitted.

“I’m really excited about the opportunity again to get in the car, and really excited to be racing at the Grand Prix, which will also be my first actual visit to Albert Park.

“The last week or so has provided a string of firsts.. The first time I’d seen a V8 Supercar race live, the first time I’d been to Clipsal, the first time an AMG GT3 had been on the podium, now my first Australian Grand Prix – I just can’t help smiling and I can’t thank Geelong Sales Company enough for the opportunity.

“They’re not the only ones either, there’s a great core group of people who have been behind my move from Formula 3 to GT3 including Lifestyle Logistics, Klosit and Maximal Concepts, without them and the support of my family and friends, none of this would be possible.

“So far as the event is concerned, I think we have a great opportunity to figure in the results again given the strengths the new AMG GT3 has with its aero in medium-high speed corners, something we saw at Clipsal. Turn 8 was the one real high speed corner, but I think I showed I was up to the challenge of the notorious high speed turn, something which I found easier thanks to my time in European F3 last year. Looking at the AGP circuit with its mix of flat medium-high speed flowing corners, I think we’ll be in a similar position to Adelaide as that style of circuit will suit us very well.

“The main thing I think for the Grand Prix will be to qualify well, as we only have two 20-minute sessions then straight into race one, the first of four 25-minute races, so it will be important to start near the front and be on the right foot from the outset.”

Solomon’s views are only compounded by the rules of Australian GT which allows the application of time penalties to each driver to ‘parity’ adjust their performances based on experience, so as a result of the shorter 25-minute races, there will be no compulsory pit stops [CPS] this weekend. Instead, the usual timed driver stops seen at each round will be replaced by a post-race time addition that includes the driver’s usual CPS time. That will then provide an overall race time from which the finishing positions will be ultimately determined.

“It’s going to be tricky without the usual pit stops, having the time added after the race, so that will be something new and make it difficult in many ways to determine where you are overall, because where you cross the finish line isn’t necessarily where you’re going to be in the final results,” Solomon explained.

“It’s going to be important to get out in front and pull a gap, that’s the only way to make any gains as such – qualify up front. Qualifying further towards the front will also help to overcome overtaking which is always quite tricky at Albert Park.”

As for the event, you’d be hard pressed not to appreciate Solomon’s passion for the ‘main game’ as a young driver who very nearly followed in the footsteps of messrs Hamilton and Rosberg.. He might be a competitor, but he’s also a race fan and has an opinion on who he expects to rise to the top on Sunday afternoon in the Australian Grand Prix.

“Mercedes look very strong still, they’ve got a very complete package, from aero to engine to their mechanicals, but Ferrari look like they may have slightly closed the gap to Mercedes. Red Bull look aerodynamically and mechanically very strong, however I don’t how their engine performance will fare against their rivals.

“Looking further down the grid I think it will be interesting to see how HAAS F1 do in their first year given their technical package from Ferrari, and I’m also interested to see what Torro Ross pairing Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr can do, and how Wehrlein and Haryanto will fare in the Manor cars.

“If I was a betting man I’d say you’d be hard pressed to look past Mercedes winning the championship again, and for Albert Park in qualifying I’d say Hamilton, Vettel and Rosberg.. As for the race, lets see what the weather dishes up..”