The fourth round of the 2026 GT World Challenge (GTWC) Australia powered by AWS season began with three different leaders across Friday’s practice sessions at Hidden Valley Raceway.
Alex Peroni and Mark Rosser edged a closely contested opening session for Team BRM before Renee Gracie led Bronze Practice for OnlyFans Racing. Josh Buchan and Cameron Campbell then completed the day fastest of all, placing the Zagame Autosport Ferrari 296 GT3 at the top of Practice 2.
2026 GTWC Australia Hidden Valley: Peroni and Rosser edge Practice 1 by 0.0008s
GTWC Australia completed its first official session at Hidden Valley with less than one thousandth of a second separating the leading two cars.
Peroni delivered the decisive lap for Team BRM, recording a 1:05.4205 on his 24th tour in the #268 Audi R8 LMS EVO II. The time gave Peroni and Rosser first place by only 0.0008s.
Jayden Ojeda and Paul Lucchitti finished second for Move My Wheels by Tigani Motorsport. Ojeda set the #66 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO’s 1:05.4213 benchmark during the opening part of the session.
Ryan Wood and Steve Brooks completed the top three in the #88 Team BRM/Wolfbrook Motorsport Audi. Wood’s 1:05.4837 left the pair only 0.0632s behind their Team BRM stablemates.
Jaxon Evans and Elliott Schutte placed fourth for ARGT with a 1:05.5857 in the #26 Ferrari 296 GT3. Championship leaders Brendon Leitch and Sergio Pires followed in fifth for Geyer Valmont Racing by Tigani Motorsport, 0.1957s away from first place.
Buchan and Campbell took sixth for Zagame Autosport, while Luke Youlden and Nathan Halstead led the Trophy Class in seventh overall. Their #71 AED Consulting by Tigani Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R completed a 1:05.6549, placing it only 0.2344s behind the outright benchmark.
Paul Stokell and Matthew Stoupas finished second in the Trophy Class and 13th overall. Their #24 KFC/Team MPC Audi recorded a 1:06.8381.
Two red flags interrupted the one-hour session. An incident involving Shane Smollen in the #56 Kollosche AMG by Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG caused the second and longer stoppage. Nevertheless, the session produced exceptionally close margins, with fewer than four-tenths separating the top 10.
2026 GTWC Australia Hidden Valley: Gracie leads closely matched Bronze Practice
Gracie continued her strong start to the season by topping Bronze Practice for the second consecutive round.
The OnlyFans Racing driver set a 1:06.3255 on her 19th and final lap in the #181 Ferrari 296 GT3. Her late improvement gave her first place by only 0.0285s.
Brad Schumacher briefly held the fastest time in the #1 Kelso Electrical/Team MPC Audi before Gracie moved ahead. He ultimately settled for second with a 1:06.3540.
Rosser followed only 0.0107s behind Schumacher in third. His 1:06.3647 placed the top three drivers within 0.0392s of one another.
Pires finished fourth in the #44 Geyer Valmont Racing Mercedes-AMG after recording a 1:06.4820. Brooks completed the top five for Team BRM/Wolfbrook Motorsport with a 1:06.5263.
Darren Currie took sixth for Team MPC, ahead of Schutte and Campbell in the ARGT and Zagame Autosport Ferraris respectively.
Stokell led the Trophy Class after setting a 1:07.1908 on his seventh lap. However, an accident brought his session to an early end and caused the only red flag of the 40-minute running.
Despite the incident, Stokell retained ninth overall and the Trophy Class lead. Nathan Halstead finished second in the category with a 1:10.8945 in the AED Consulting Porsche.
2026 GTWC Australia Hidden Valley: Buchan and Campbell end Friday fastest
Buchan and Campbell placed Zagame Autosport at the top of the final session with a late improvement.
Buchan recorded a 1:04.7141 on the car’s 32nd and final lap. The time represented the quickest effort across Friday’s three sessions and gave the #23 Ferrari its first Practice 2-leading result of the season.
Wood and Brooks finished second in the Team BRM/Wolfbrook Motorsport Audi. Wood’s 1:04.7961 brought the pair to within 0.0820s of Buchan’s benchmark.
Evans and Schutte followed only 0.0011s further behind in third. Evans set a 1:04.7972 on the ARGT Ferrari’s final lap, leaving the leading three cars separated by 0.0831s.
Reigning champions Broc Feeney and Schumacher placed fourth for Kelso Electrical/Team MPC with a 1:04.9127. Will Davison and Gracie completed the top five in the OnlyFans Racing Ferrari after producing a 1:05.0718.
All five leading cars broke the 1:05 barrier as teams continued refining their set-ups ahead of Qualifying.
Practice 1 leaders Peroni and Rosser took sixth, while Garnet Patterson and John-Paul Drake placed the third Team BRM Audi in seventh. Valentino Astuti and Currie followed in eighth.
The two Mercedes-AMGs at the top of the Drivers’ Championship finished ninth and 10th. Leitch and Pires led Ojeda and Lucchitti, while Oscar Targett placed 11th in the #56 Kollosche AMG.
Youlden and Halstead led the Trophy Class with a 1:06.1348. The Porsche pairing finished 12th overall and completed valuable running after Stokell and Stoupas did not take part following their Bronze Practice accident.
Looking ahead to Qualifying
GTWC Australia continues at Hidden Valley on Saturday, with Qualifying 1 scheduled for 11:40am ACST and Qualifying 2 following at 12:05pm.
The opening one-hour race of the Darwin weekend will begin at 3:45pm ACST.
