Godfrey Snares Epic Wet APS Win

RAM Motorsport Wolf Tornado driver Ryan Godfrey has produced a masterful display of wet weather driving at a saturated Bend Motorsport Park to clinch overall honours in the final round of the GCMarine Australian Prototype Series.

After finishing a solid fifth in Race 1, Godfrey surged to the front of the field early in Race 2 and proceeded to lap around five seconds faster than his pursuers, building an enormous 20 second lead before the Safety Car was deployed and ultimately stayed on track until the end of the race.

The epic performance saw Godfrey rewarded with the overall round victory, narrowly edging out the newly-crowned APS champ John-Paul Drake.

“That was a chaotic race – it went from OK to extremely wet within a lap,” an elated Godfrey said.

“I just tried to keep it smooth and calm out there and brought it home. In motorsport you have your lows and highs, but that was definitely a high.”

Unfortunately for the other RAM Motorsport entry – the Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Michael Sheargold/Garth Walden – the track conditions continued to deteriorate throughout the morning to the point where the second Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS race was cancelled altogether. 

While disappointed they were not able to race, Sheargold and Walden still took home a trophy by virtue of finishing second in the Am Class in Race 1.

“It’s a shame we didn’t get to race today, but the conditions were pretty bad,” Sheargold said.

“Race 1 went well overall – my race pace wasn’t quite as strong as it had been in qualifying, but I still kept the car in one piece and put Garth in a position where he was able to charge forward during his stint.

“We gained more valuable information on how the car performs in mixed conditions and it was a very good weekend for us in terms of the championship, because we’re now only one point out of second place.”

The next outing for Sheargold and Walden will be at the Bathurst International in three weeks, where they will compete in the GT Endurance Championship three-hour race, while the RAM Motorsport crew will be back on track at next weekend’s Gold Coast 500, with Dylan O’Keeffe competing in the final round of Porsche Carrera Cup.