WHEN Bathurst driver Brad Shiels got behind the wheel for qualifying in the latest round of the Australian GT Championship, it was not only the first time he’d raced a Lamborghini Huracan GT3, but his first laps at Barbagallo.
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So that Shiels went on to qualify sixth at the Perth track before joining his Amac Motorsport team-mate Andrew Macpherson in securing a pair of top 10 finishes was an impressive effort.
It also points for better things to come as both Shiels and Macpherson become more familiar with the new car.
“It was a good weekend, there’s still a lot to learn with the car, but it showed a lot of promise and we will only improve as we get more used to it,” he said.
“Pretty much the whole field had been there the week previous for two test days, so they had a lot of time to get familiar with their cars and work on their set ups, whereas I had to jump straight into the car for qualifying.
“I had never driven at the track before and was first time ever racing the car. I was straight into the car for qualifying on Friday afternoon.”
Shiels was only 0.4 of a second off the pace of the pole sitting Audi R8 LMS of Ash Walsh and James Koundaris. His best lap was a 56.093 seconds effort.
Going from sixth on the grid in the opening one-hour race of the round, Shiels made a solid start and handed over to Macpherson in eighth.
He went on to cross the line in sixth, but a timing error with another competitor pushed the duo back into seventh.
“Seventh in a AGT race is still an achievement. Considering our steep learning curve in set up and adjusting to the amazing level of the cars drivability, at a track we have never raced at before …,” Macpherson posted on Facebook.
Macpherson started the Lamborghini in Sunday’s race before Shiels went on to finish in 10th.
“I got the fourth fastest lap of the race, so that was okay, it’s showing promising speed,” Shiels said.
The next test for the Bathurst driver, the opening round of the Australian Endurance Championship, will be conducted at Phillip Island on May 26-28.