Klark Quinn has claimed his third Australian GT Championship after a dramatic day of action packed racing at Highlands Motorsport Park.

The Darrell Lea McLaren 650S GT3 driver bounced back following a final lap clash in the opening race to claim third in Race 2, which proved enough to hold out Nathan Morcom and seal the title victory.

“This one is certainly the most special,” Quinn said after the race. “The in Australian GT standard is so high now and every year it just goes u and up.

“Nathan (Morcom) 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 (in race two).

“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.”

“It’s been a day of highs and lows but I’m so happy with how it’s turned out.”

Quinn and Morcom battled it out for supremacy at the head of the first race before contact between the two left Quinn beached in the gravel at Lakeside on the final lap.

Morcom carried on to take the flag but would be penalised post-race and sent to the rear of the grid for the Race 2.

As a result the win went to Craig Baird and Michael Almond, ahead of the Greg Murphy/Tony Quinn RJ’s Aston Martin Vantage and the McLaren pairing of Grant Denyer and Frenchman Come Ledogar.

In Race 2 an aggressive start saw Morcom race his way to third place after just twelve laps, though damage to the rear of the Direct Plasterboard Outlet McLaren hurt his outright pace.

Roger Lago emerged at the head of the race after the pit stop window closed, but soon came under pressure from Quinn who seized the initiative.

A late-race safety car played into the hands of Morcom, who’d lost ground during the pit stop sequence, but soon found himself swamped by Christopher Mies and Garth Tander in the two JAMEC PEM Audi R8 LMS entries.

With one hand on the championship trophy, Quinn didn’t fight too hard when Nathan Antunes launched an attack in the final laps, while Craig Baird managed to navigate by the Scott Taylor Motorsport entry beyond the Darrell Lea McLaren.

Quinn though held in third place, crossing the line ahead of team-mate Greg Murphy who co-drove with Tony Quinn in the Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

Morcom ended the race seventh place, a result which crowned Quinn as Australian GT Champion for the third time.

Race 1 Results

Pos    Competitor    Total time    Diff    Laps
1    C.Baird / M.Almond    1:01:04.277         37
2    G.Murphy / T.Quinn    1:01:13.441    9.164    37
3    C.Ledogar / G.Denyer    1:01:29.640    25.363    37
4    M.Marshall / J.Koundouris    1:01:48.774    44.497    37
5    J.Evans / M.Hovey    1:01:53.601    49.324    37
6    N.Antunes / E.Barbour    1:01:53.828    49.551    37
7    S.Richards / M.Twigg    1:01:54.624    50.347    37
8    G.Tander / S.McLaughlan    1:01:56.181    51.904    37
9    C. Mies / T.Bates    1:01:56.741    52.464    37
10    R.Lago    1:02:02.686    58.409    37
11    S.Davies / M.Griffith    1:02:04.758    01:00.5    37
12    D.Canto / A.Taplin    1:00:38.206    1 lap    36
13    P.Edwards    1:01:00.096    1 lap    36
14    G. Wood / J.McMillan    1:01:09.642    1 lap    36
15    C.McConville / A.Deitz    1:01:09.921    1 lap    36
16    G.Taylor    1:01:14.680    1 lap    36
17    A.Porter / C.Proctor    1:01:39.371    1 lap    36
18    A.Samadi    1:02:04.395    1 lap    36
19    N. Chester / G.Smith    1:01:44.680    2 laps    35
20    S.Fillmore / D.Stuttard    1:02:14.498    2 laps    35
DNF    K.Quinn    0:58:59.478         36
DNF    J.Martin / L.Talbot    0:22:50.733         14
DNF    B.Shiels / A.Macpherson    0:09:22.396         5
DNS    S.Ellinghham / T.Miles              0
DQ    Nathan Morcom    1:00:37.019         37
Race 2 Results

Pos    Competitor    Total time    Diff    Laps
1    N.Antunes / E.Barbour    1.01:23.871         36
2    C.Baird / M.Almond    1.01:24.568    0.697    36
3    K.Quinn / M.Widdett    1.01:33.047    9.176    36
4    G.Murphy / T.Quinn    1.01:33.497    9.626    36
5    C. Mies / T.Bates    1.01:33.663    9.792    36
6    G.Tander / S.McLaughlan    1.01:34.333    10.462    36
7    Nathan Morcom    1.01:35.447    11.576    36
8    J.Evans / M.Hovey    1.01:35.801    11.93    36
9    S.Davies / M.Griffith    1.01:38.345    14.474    36
10    G. Wood / J.McMillan    1.01:41.442    17.571    36
11    D.Canto / A.Taplin    1.01:52.031    28.16    36
12    P.Edwards    1.02:01.731    37.86    36
13    S.Fillmore / D.Stuttard    1.02:04.262    40.391    36
14    R.Lago    1.02:04.902    41.031    36
15    A.Porter / C.Proctor    1.02:06.332    42.461    36
16    C.Ledogar / G.Denyer    1.01:37.912    1 lap    35
17    S.Ellinghham / T.Miles    1.02:05.392    1 lap    35
18    G.Taylor    1.02:07.190    1 lap    35
19    N. Chester / G.Smith    1.02:22.112    1 lap    35
20    M.Marshall / J.Koundouris    1.02:55.904    3 laps    33
DNF    S.Richards / M.Twigg    0.45:00.721         27
DNF    J.Martin / L.Talbot    0.45:02.095         27
DNF    C.McConville / A.Deitz    0.48:03.854         23
DNF    B.Shiels / A.Macpherson    0.25:09.128         15
DNF    A.Samadi    0.25:51.821         15