AUS GT: Peter Hackett Albert Park summary

PETER HACKETT ON THE PODIUM IN ALBERT PARK GT DEBUT

March 29, 2010 - Victorian VodkaO Racing Lamborghini Gallardo driver Peter Hackett continued his impressive form in the second round of the Australian GT Championship at Melbourne's Albert Park street circuit over the weekend.

Despite Hackett's extensive motor racing experience, the three GT Championship races represented his debut on the fast 5.3 kilometre Albert Park Grand Prix circuit. While happy with his car in practice at 7th overall on old tyres, qualifying on Thursday afternoon proved to be more challenging as Hackett found the limits of his Lamborgini Gallardo with a couple of off-circuit forays. The 29 year old racer set the 5th fastest lap time of qualifying, a fraction over one second behind Polesetter Theo Koundouris in a Porsche GT3 997. Hackett was by far the fastest Lamborghini driver in the GT Championship field in only his second drive of this car. His closest Lambo equipped rival being South Australian Andrew Taplin, who qualified two seconds behind in 12th.

The opening race on Friday morning saw Hackett get off to a blistering start, progressing into the top three but a potentially great race to the chequered flag was spoiled by two competitor accidents, which saw the total race distance reduced by one lap to seven in total with less than three completed at race speed. Hackett was once again the highest placed Lamborghini driver, finishing the race 3/10ths of a second behind race winner Max Twigg and James Koundouris in Porsches.

The second race on Saturday didn't even get 100 metres past the rolling start green flag when a massive five car collision took place, covering the circuit in debris and forcing the cancellation of the race. Luckily for Hackett, all of the drama took place well behind his third starting spot. He was classified as third in the aborted race standings.

The third and final race saw another strong start and a battle to remain in the top three, with defending Champion David Wall (Porsche) and Hackett engaging in a fierce battle that saw Wall get past. The race hadn't reached half distance before another massive accident took place on the Lakeside Drive section of the circuit. While it only involved two cars, and fortunately no major injuries, the amount of debris across the circuit made it impossible for the race to continue. The race was declared behind the Safety Car and Hackett's Lamborghini was classified 4th.

The aggregrate of Hackett's results over the Grand Prix weekend saw him take third overall for the round on debut at Melbourne's Albert Park Street Circuit. The round was won by Max Twigg with James Koundouris second.

According to Hackett - "What a weekend - there was a lot of crazy stuff going on in those races, luckily all of it well behind me. My Grand Prix weekend was all about learning the circuit and progressing with each session and race and I was pleased with our result of third overall and once again being the fastest Lamborghini driver in the field. Being on the podium on debut at Albert Park and in my second race with the VodkaO team represents a great start to the season."

Hackett started his hectic Grand Prix weekend at Albert Park on Wednesday, running an exclusive media and VIP guest Mercedes-Benz AMG media and special guest test drive morning on the Grand Prix circuit using twenty limited edition C and E Class AMG models. While these commitments were busy enough, the 29 year old racer was also drafted in to replace the main Formula One Medical Emergency Car driver during each of the Formula One sessions and the Grand Prix itself.

-source: peter hackett