The 2016 CAMS Australian GT Championship was a CAMS-sanctioned Australian motor racing championship[1] open to FIA GT3 cars.[2] It was the 20th running of the Australian GT Championship. The championship began on 3 March 2016 at the Adelaide Street Circuit and ended on 13 November at Highlands Motorsport Park, with five rounds held in Australia and one round in New Zealand.
The 2016 season marked an expansion in Australian GT racing, with a separate endurance championship, the CAMS Australian Endurance Championship, being run for GT cars for the first time. A third series for older-specification GT3 and GT4 class cars, the CAMS Australian GT Trophy Series, was also held.[3]
The Australian GT Championship events were held in support of V8 Supercar events, as part of rounds of the Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships and as self-promoted events. The Australian Endurance Championship also shared events with V8 Supercars and the Shannons Nationals, though its final two rounds were staged at Hampton Downs and Highlands Motorsport Park, both owned by series owner Tony Quinn. The Australian GT Trophy Series was contested exclusively at Shannons Nationals events.[3]
Klark Quinn won the Australian GT Championship, Grant Denyer and Nathan Morcom were awarded the Australian Endurance Championship and Rob Smith won the Australian GT Trophy Series.
The 2016 season included three separate series:
All competitors were able to enter the Australian GT Championship and the Australian Endurance Championship, and all were eligible to win the championships outright, however only older-specification cars could enter the Australian GT Trophy Series.
The Australian GT Championship was contested over six rounds, the Australian Endurance Championship over four rounds and the Australian GT Trophy Series over five rounds. Each race, with the exception of the Australian Grand Prix round of the Australian GT Championship, included at least one compulsory timed pit stop. The exception was the Australian Grand Prix round where drivers seeded time was added to the final race time.
| Round | Circuit | Location | Race format | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adelaide Street Circuit | Adelaide, South Australia | 3 x 40 min | 3–6 March |
| 2 | Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit | Melbourne, Victoria | 4 x 25 min | 17–20 March |
| 3 | Barbagallo Raceway | Perth, Western Australia | 2 x 60 min | 6–8 May |
| 4 | Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit | Phillip Island, Victoria | 27–28 May | |
| 5 | Townsville Street Circuit | Townsville, Queensland | 8–10 July | |
| 6 | Highlands Motorsport Park | Cromwell, New Zealand | 11–12 November |
| Round | Circuit | Location | Race format | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit | Phillip Island, Victoria | 101 laps | 28–29 May |
| 2 | Sydney Motorsport Park | Eastern Creek, New South Wales | 26–28 August | |
| 3 | Hampton Downs Motorsport Park | Waikato, New Zealand | 28–30 October | |
| 4 | Highlands Motorsport Park | Cromwell, New Zealand | 13 November |
| Round | Circuit | Location | Race format | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sandown Raceway | Melbourne, Victoria | 2 x 50 min | 1–3 April |
| 2 | Winton Motor Raceway | Benalla, Victoria | 10–12 June | |
| 3 | Sydney Motorsport Park | Eastern Creek, New South Wales | 1–3 July | |
| 4 | Queensland Raceway | Ipswich, Queensland | 29–31 July | |
| 5 | Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit | Phillip Island, Victoria | 9–11 September |
| Round | Circuit | Race 1 Winner | Race 2 Winner | Race 3 Winner | Race 4 Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adelaide | No. 1 JAMEC PEM Racing | No. 23 JBS Australia | No. 4 Supabarn Supermarkets | No. 11 Objective Racing | not contested |
 Christopher Mies Geoff Emery | Roger Lago | James Koundouris Marcus Marshall | Tony Walls | |||
| 2 | Albert Park | No. 1 JAMEC PEM Racing | No. 222 Scott Taylor Motorsport | No. 60 Tekno Autosports | No. 38 Eggleston Motorsport | No. 4 Supabarn Supermarkets |
| Christopher Mies Geoff Emery | Nathan Morcom |  Matt Solomon | James Koundouris Marcus Marshall | |||
| 3 | Barbagallo | No. 1 JAMEC PEM Racing | No. 2 JAMEC PEM Racing | No. 222 Scott Taylor Motorsport | not contested | |
 Marco Bonanomi Geoff Emery | Steve McLaughlan | Scott Taylor Craig Baird | ||||
| 4 | Phillip Island | No. 37 Darrell Lea | No. 60 Tekno Autosports | No. 777 The Bend Motorsport Park | ||
| Klark Quinn Shane van Gisbergen | Nathan Morcom | Yasser Shahin | ||||
| 5 | Townsville | No. 1 JAMEC PEM Racing | No. 37 Darrell Lea | No. 11 Objective Racing | ||
| Christopher Mies Tony Bates | Klark Quinn | Tony Walls | ||||
| 6 | Highlands | No. 1 JAMEC PEM Racing | No. 222 Scott Taylor Motorsport | No. 61 Tekno Autosports | ||
| Christopher Mies Tony Bates | Michael Almond Craig Baird | Nathan Antunes Elliot Barbour |
| Round | Circuit | Pole position | Race winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phillip Island | No. 37 Darrell Lea | No. 59 Tekno Autosports |
| Klark Quinn Shane van Gisbergen | Nathan Morcom Grant Denyer | ||
| 2 | Sydney | No. 911 Walkinshaw Racing | No. 95 Miedecke Motor Group |
| John Martin Duvashen Padayachee | George Miedecke Andrew Miedecke | ||
| 3 | Hampton Downs | No. 23 JBS Australia | No. 23 JBS Australia |
| Roger Lago David Russell | Roger Lago David Russell | ||
| 4 | Highlands | No. 222 Scott Taylor Motorsport | No. 222 Scott Taylor Motorsport |
| Round | Circuit | Race 1 Winner | Race 2 Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sandown | No. 66 Melbourne Performance Centre | No. 1 GT Motorsport | No. 1 GT Motorsport |
| Garth Rainsbury Ben Porter | Gregg Taylor Barton Mawer | Gregg Taylor Barton Mawer | ||
| 2 | Winton | No. 1 GT Motorsport | No. 1 GT Motorsport | No. 93 MARC Cars Australia |
| Gregg Taylor | Gregg Taylor | Jake Camilleri | ||
| 3 | Sydney | No. 1 GT Motorsport | No. 1 GT Motorsport | No. 1 GT Motorsport |
| Gregg Taylor | Gregg Taylor | Gregg Taylor | ||
| 4 | Ipswich | No. 93 MARC Cars Australia | No. 93 MARC Cars Australia | No. 94 MARC Cars Australia |
| Jake Camilleri | Jake Camilleri | Jack Smith | ||
| 5 | Phillip Island | No. 1 GT Motorsport | No. 1 GT Motorsport | No. 1 GT Motorsport |
| Gregg Taylor | Gregg Taylor | Gregg Taylor |
| Position[4] | Driver | Car[5] | Ade | Mel | Bar | Phi | Tow | Hig | Total | |
| 1 | Klark Quinn | McLaren 650S GT3 | 105 | 99 | 129 | 61 | 150 | 83 | 627 | |
| 2 | Craig Baird | Mercedes-Benz AMG GT | 62 | 66 | 127 | 39 | 93 | 194 | 581 | |
| 3 | Nathan Morcom | McLaren 650S GT3 | 93 | 97 | 131 | 124 | 87 | 49 | 581 | |
| 4 | Roger Lago | Lamborghini Gallardo R-EX | 132 | 41 | 70 | 55 | 163 | 48 | 509 | |
| 5 | James Koundouris | Audi R8 LMS | 101 | 121 | 98 | 14 | 84 | 60 | 478 | |
| = | Marcus Marshall | Audi R8 LMS | 101 | 121 | 98 | 14 | 84 | 60 | 478 | |
| 6 | Elliot Barbour | McLaren 650S GT3 | 50 | 80 | 110 | 24 | 43 | 149 | 456 | |
| = | Nathan Antunes | McLaren 650S GT3 | 50 | 80 | 110 | 24 | 43 | 149 | 456 | |
| 7 | Steve McLaughlan | Audi R8 LMS | 39 | 62 | 109 | 104 | 30 | 79 | 423 | |
| 8 | Tony Quinn | McLaren 650S GT3 Aston Martin Vantage | 105 | 0 | 47 | 37 | 82 | 147 | 418 | |
| 9 | Tony Walls | McLaren 650S GT3 | 112 | 49 | 47 | 69 | 121 | 0 | 398 | |
| 10 | Justin McMillan | Lamborghini Gallardo R-EX | 136 | 42 | 63 | 77 | 41 | 39 | 398 | |
| = | Glen Wood | Lamborghini Gallardo R-EX | 136 | 42 | 63 | 77 | 41 | 39 | 398 | |
| 11 | Scott Taylor | Mercedes-Benz AMG GT | 62 | 66 | 127 | 39 | 93 | 0 | 387 | |
| 12 | Grant Denyer | McLaren 650S GT3 | 57 | 71 | 0 | 77 | 71 | 100 | 376 | |
| 13 | John Martin | Porsche 997 GT3-R | 35 | 74 | 111 | 23 | 83 | 3 | 329 | |
| 14 | Jonathon Webb | McLaren 650S GT3 | 57 | 71 | 78 | 0 | 71 | - | 277 | |
| 15 | Tony Bates | Audi R8 LMS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 147 | 88 | 260 | |
| 16 | Greg Taylor | Audi R8 LMS | 53 | 47 | 53 | 30 | 55 | 10 | 248 | |
| 17 | Aaron Tebb | Porsche 997 GT3-R | 35 | 74 | 111 | 23 | 0 | - | 243 | |
| 18 | Geoff Emery | Audi R8 LMS | 47 | 134 | 52 | 0 | 0 | - | 233 | |
| 19 | Andrew Taplin | Lamborghini Gallardo | 60 | 34 | 48 | 28 | 0 | 43 | 213 | |
| = | Dean Canto | Lamborghini Gallardo | 60 | 34 | 48 | 28 | 0 | 43 | 213 | |
| 20 | Ricky Capo | BMW Z4 GT3 | 46 | 35 | 19 | 105 | 5 | - | 210 | |
| 21 | Michael Almond | Mercedes-Benz AMG GT | 194 | - | - | - | - | - | 194 | |
| 22 | Garth Tander | Audi R8 LMS | - | - | - | 104 | - | 79 | 183 | |
| 23 | Matt Kingsley | McLaren 650S GT3 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 77 | 0 | 0 | 155 | |
| 24 | Greg Murphy | Aston Martin Vantage[6] | - | - | - | - | - | 147 | 147 | |
| 25 | Mark Griffith | Mercedes-Benz AMG GT | 64 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 51 | 135 | |
| 26 | Ash Samadi | Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS Audi R8 LMS | 20 | 22 | 16 | 35 | 27 | 8 | 125 | |
| 27 | Andrew Miedecke | Aston Martin Vantage | 0 | 82 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 117 | |
| = | George Miedecke | Aston Martin Vantage | 0 | 82 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 117 | |
| 28 | Steven Richards | BMW M6 GT3 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 33 | 21 | 36 | 114 | |
| = | Max Twigg | BMW M6 GT3 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 33 | 21 | 36 | 114 | |
| 29 | Simon Ellingham | Audi R8 Ultra | 45 | 41 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 104 | |
| 30 | Andrew MacPherson | Porsche 997 GT3-R | 35 | 17 | 0 | 8 | 24 | 0 | 84 | |
| 31 | Neale Muston | Porsche 997 GT3-R | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 83 | - | 83 | |
| 32 | Adrian Deitz | Ferrari 458 GT3 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 13 | 81 | |
| = | Cameron McConville | Ferrari 458 GT3 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 13 | 81 | |
| 33 | Shane van Gisbergen | McLaren 650S GT3 | - | - | - | 61 | - | - | 61 | |
| 34 | Peter Rullo | Lamborghini Gallardo | 0 | 4 | 36 | 7 | 10 | - | 57 | |
| 35 | Barton Mawer | Audi R8 LMS | 0 | 0 | 53 | 0 | 0 | - | 53 | |
| 36 | Tim Miles | Audi R8 Ultra | 0 | 41 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 52 | |
| 37 | Peter Hackett | Mercedes-AMG GT3[7] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 0 | - | 49 | |
| = | Dominic Storey | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 0 | - | 49 | |
| 38 | Peter Edwards | Ferrari 458 GT3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 38 | 46 | |
| 39 | Liam Talbot | Audi R8 LMS Ultra | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 3 | 45 | |
| = | Jake Fouracre | Audi R8 LMS Ultra | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 3 | 45 | |
| 40 | Daniel Gaunt | Aston Martin Vantage | - | - | - | 37 | - | - | 37 | |
| 41 | Brad Shiels | Porsche 997 GT3-R | - | - | - | 8 | 24 | - | 32 | |
| 42 | John Magro | Lamborghini Gallardo | 15 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 31 | |
| 43 | Ryal Harris | Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 0 | - | 29 | |
| 44 | Scott Hookey | Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | - | 15 | |
| 45 | Rod Salmon | Audi R8 Ultra | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 12 | |
| 46 | Alex Rullo | Lamborghini Gallardo | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0 | - | 11 |
| Position | Driver | Car | Ade | Mel | Bar | Phi | Tow | Hig | Total | |
| 1 | Roger Lago | Lamborghini Gallardo R-EX | 221 | 120 | 168 | 186 | 204 | 202 | 1101 | |
| 2 | Tony Walls | McLaren 650S GT3 | 184 | 143 | 157 | 185 | 172 | -t | 841 | |
| 3 | Ash Samadi | Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS Audi R8 LMS | 78 | 114 | 99 | 181 | 98 | 72 | 642 | |
| 4 | Greg Taylor | Audi R8 LMS | 132 | 151 | 0 | 0 | 122 | 155 | 560 | |
| 5 | Steve McLaughlan | Audi R8 LMS | 109 | 162 | 166 | 0 | 72 | - | 511 | |
| 6 | Peter Edwards | Ferrari 458 GT3 | - | - | 137 | - | - | 194 | 331 | |
| 7 | Tony Quinn | McLaren 650S GT3 Aston Martin Vantage | 0 | 0 | 143 | 0 | 168 | - | 311 | |
| 8 | Mark Griffith | Mercedes-Benz AMG GT | 155 | 52 | 0 | 6 | 0 | - | 213 | |
| 9 | Peter Rullo | Lamborghini Gallardo | 0 | 0 | 155 | 0 | 56 | - | 211 | |
| 10 | Andrew MacPherson | Porsche 997 GT3-R | 89 | 76 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 165 | |
| 11 | Rod Salmon | Audi R8 Ultra | 67 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 89 |
The Gold Driver Cup was for drivers over 40 years of age, competing solo and ranked Pro 4 or below.[8]
Grant Denyer and Nathan Morcom were awarded the Australian Endurance Championship.
Rob Smith won the Australian GT Trophy Series.