Jake Camilleri and Scott Nicholas have taken a hard fought Class C victory in the Dial Before You Dig Australian Six Hour at Eastern Creek Raceway over the weekend, with the Grand Prix Motorsport Mazda3 MPS being pushed to the limits.
After lightning pace throughout practice and qualifying, a broken gearstick early in the race could have de-railed their charge.
However after swift work in the pits, Camilleri and Nicholas dug in, setting a cracking pace to regain the Class lead, and hold on for their first win in an endurance race.
After six safety car free hours, the crew came across the finish line in tenth outright.
"It was such an exciting weekend, there was a great buzz about the event, I really enjoyed it a lot more than the Bathurst 12 Hour," Jake Camilleri said. "It's great to finally break our endurance race hoodoo, it's a credit to Graeme (Murray) and all of the boys on the team for making it happen.
"The team was right on the money, and our pit stops were perfect all race long.
"Even when we had the problem with the gearstick, they swung into action and got the part changed with no mucking about.
"Scotty was brilliant; all we wanted him to do was race at the same pace as the other cars in the class, but our closest competition all weekend was Rick Bates in the other Mazda, and Scott was one second a lap quicker than him the whole time.
"Towards the end we were pushing on because we thought that the BMW didn't have to make another pit stop.
"The Mazda3 MPS was incredible, over an hour and a half stint, the car would only drop off about one second a lap in lap times.
"We can't wait for the next round of the championship, we're back at home at Morgan Park, we were on the outright podium there last year, I think we can do it again."
For Nicholas, his fourth drive for the team was his most successful.
"We're ecstatic to finally crack a big result in an enduro," Scott Nicholas said.
"The car was a jet all weekend long, Jake was driving exceptionally fast, and everyone in the crew was on top of their game.
"The team made some changes to the car for the second practice session on Friday, and from there it was untouched all weekend long.
"The pit stops were lightning, and our winning margin for the Class can be entirely attributed to how quick the pit stops were.
"The competition over the weekend was pretty stiff, so that makes it all the more satisfying, and there's more to come!"
Team manager Graeme Murray was suitably proud of his team's effort throughout the event.
"To finally get an endurance race win under our belt is very pleasing indeed," Graeme Murray said.
"I'm very happy that the race ran safety car free, in fact we got more racing in during the Six Hour than the entire 12 Hour!
"Jake and Scott were perfect behind the wheel, and our pit stops were lightning, Jake really had to get a hustle on towards the end, because we really didn't think that the BMW had to stop again.
"It's awesome for everyone involved in Grand Prix Motorsport, we can't wait for the rest of the championship now."
