{"id":59759,"date":"2026-07-28T03:08:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T03:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/59759\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T03:08:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T03:08:14","slug":"seven-drivers-who-could-replace-supercars-stars-for-gt-final-in-adelaide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/59759\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven drivers who could replace Supercars stars for GT final in Adelaide"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Seven\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Brad Schumacher\/Broc Feeney Audi R8 leads at Hidden Valley Raceway. Image: Jack Martin<\/p>\n

As flagged last week by Speedcafe<\/a>, Supercars drivers Broc Feeney<\/a>, Ryan Wood<\/a> and Jayden Ojeda<\/a> have all been ruled out of the GT World Challenge Australia finale due to a clash with the championship decider.<\/p>\n

Brad Schumacher (Melbourne Performance Centre) will need to replace Feeney, Steve Brooks (Team BRM) will have to replace Wood, and Paul Lucchitti (Tigani Motorsport) will have to replace Ojeda.<\/p>\n

It got this author wondering who would be the best fit for the vacant seats, and it could be a crucial call to make depending on the title picture for the Am drivers.<\/p>\n

In this story, we look at which drivers might best fit the bill.<\/p>\n

There is one prerequisite: they must be rated no higher than Gold by the FIA.<\/p>\n

As it stands, any driver with a Platinum rating is ineligible. That will preclude manufacturers from sending a gun professional Down Under.<\/p>\n

\"Arise<\/p>\n

Arise Racing GT driver Jordan Love joined Steve Wyatt in the 2025 GT World Challenge Australia season. Image: Race Project
\nJordan Love<\/p>\n

As far as recent experience goes, there are few better options available than Jordan Love.<\/p>\n

He was supposed to race in GT World Challenge Australia this year with Arise Racing GT alongside Steve Wyatt until he pulled out late.<\/p>\n

Love knows Adelaide from his Porsche Carrera Cup Australia days and knows his way around a variety of GT3 machines, having raced the Mercedes-AMG, Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and Ferrari 296.<\/p>\n

His Mercedes-AMG experience would be handy for Tigani Motorsport.<\/p>\n

\"Porsche<\/p>\n

Porsche North America selected driver Tom Sargent.
\nTom Sargent<\/p>\n

One of Australia\u2019s best, plying his trade in North America and Europe, is Tom Sargent.<\/p>\n

Sargent used Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge as his launch pad to bigger and better things in the United States.<\/p>\n

Since then, he\u2019s been picked up by Porsche as a North America selected driver. That could conceivably be a hurdle given the vacancies are in a Mercedes and Audi.<\/p>\n

Sargent has flown under the radar but is without a doubt one of Australia\u2019s best, if a little underrated.<\/p>\n

\"Hunter<\/p>\n

Hunter McElrea competes in the IMSA Sports Car Championship.
\nHunter McElrea<\/p>\n

Hunter McElrea mightn\u2019t have much GT3 racing experience, but he\u2019s proven he\u2019s quick in high-downforce cars.<\/p>\n

The Australian-raised New Zealander knows his way around prototypes and open-wheelers.<\/p>\n

He has won in the IMSA SportsCar Championship in LMP2 equipment and the IndyCar feeder Indy NXT.<\/p>\n

Steve Brooks has flagged his desire to sign a speedy Kiwi. There are only nine New Zealanders rated Gold by the FIA, which limits Brooks\u2019 options unless he expands his search to Silver rated drivers.<\/p>\n

\"Triple<\/p>\n

Triple Eight Race Engineering co-driver Nick Percat. Image: Richard Gresham
\nNick Percat<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a while since Nick Percat has been behind the wheel of GT3 machinery.<\/p>\n

You have to go back to the 2022 Bathurst 12 Hour for his last high-profile outing with Team BRM in an Audi R8 LMS.<\/p>\n

Percat is probably among the top options given he\u2019s only recently retired from full-time racing in Supercars and will have had a full Enduro Cup campaign this year with Triple Eight.<\/p>\n

Being an Adelaide local and a Supercars regular for so long, his knowledge of the streets is invaluable.<\/p>\n

\"Meyer<\/p>\n

Meyer Shank Racing driver Marcus Armstrong. Image: Paul Hurley
\nMarcus Armstrong<\/p>\n

There were discussions that Marcus Armstrong might partner his father Rick Armstrong on the streets of Adelaide.<\/p>\n

Talk of that has since died down, but could Marcus be coaxed into one of the vacant seats?<\/p>\n

The closest he has come to racing a GT3 car was his father\u2019s Porsche 911 Cup car at Highlands.<\/p>\n

They say Kiwis can fly, and Armstrong would surely give it a good nudge over the Senna Chicane.<\/p>\n

\"Christian<\/p>\n

Christian Mansell (left) celebrates winning with Maximilian Gotz in International GT Open.
\nChristian Mansell<\/p>\n

After departing the FIA Formula 2 Championship, Australian Christian Mansell took a break from racing.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s since popped back up in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 with International GT Open outfit Team Motopark.<\/p>\n

He and Maximilian Gotz have been race winners this year and sit second in the standings with three rounds remaining.<\/p>\n

\"Scott<\/p>\n

Scott Andrews pictured in 2024 after taking pole position for Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.
\nScott Andrews<\/p>\n

Tigani Motorsport shouldn\u2019t have to look too far for inspiration.<\/p>\n

The team fielded three cars in this year\u2019s Bathurst 12 Hour with a mixture of factory Mercedes drivers alongside professional and amateur drivers across Pro, Bronze, and Pro-Am.<\/p>\n

Among the standouts was Scott Andrews, who shone in Saturday\u2019s qualifying with the second-fastest time and eighth in the shootout.<\/p>\n

Andrews has a wealth of experience in the Mercedes-AMG GT3, with his last four Daytona 24 starts with the brand.<\/p>\n

Familiarity between team and driver will surely be a consideration too.<\/p>\n

The Adelaide Supercars driver dilemma facing top GT teams<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brad Schumacher\/Broc Feeney Audi R8 leads at Hidden Valley Raceway. Image: Jack Martin As flagged last week…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59760,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[395,21782,66581,66582,66583,3474],"class_list":["post-59759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-adelaide","tag-adelaide","tag-broc-feeney","tag-gt-world-challenge-australia","tag-jayden-ojeda","tag-ryan-wood","tag-slot1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}