The Shannons Nationals caught up with 2018 CAMS Australian GT Championship GT4 class winner Jeremy Gray, who won the title in his first year of competing.
Shannons Nationals: How does it feel to win the GT4 title?
Jeremy Gray: It is very fulfilling to actually get a national title to your name. I haven’t done that before so that was a good feeling. This year for us was also a learning year which was good too because we went in there not really knowing the car or the category all that well. I can definitely say that our first year of GT racing was a lot of fun.
SN: So was there lots of celebrating?
JG: We just soaked it in and didn’t make too much of a fuss about it and moved on. More of just a little team celebration, and we’re a little team, a little family team and we have a lot of fun going away racing together, so to actually win the title and have that to our names is a good thing.
SN: What was the most memorable moment for you?
JG: Competing at The Bend Motorsport Park when it was blowing a gale around the racetrack and you couldn’t see in front of you because of the dust.
I’ve never experienced anything like it. It was surreal thinking you’re going as fast as you can, you can’t see in front of you and there was just literally layers of dust on the track. It’s hard to describe.
It might not be the best moment, but certainly one I won’t forget.
I suppose a great moment for me personally was competing as a support category at the Formula One Rolex Australian Grand Prix. It was the first time I’ve ever competed at a Formula 1 event and it was a great experience.
To come away with the win was fantastic. I had to work hard for that one because we had to pass the BMW on the last lap so that was pretty cool.
SN: Dare we ask, was there a worst moment from the event?
JG: During Phillip Island, I got pushed off the track by a GT3 car and we had a DNF as a result of it. It wasn’t much very fun because there was a bit of damage done to our car.
SN: Who would like you like to thank for a strong season?
JG: Bilstein Suspension Australia, and of course our team JMG Racing
SN: Have you decided what to do for 2019?
JG: I’ll be hopefully competing in the Touring Car Masters, which is something I really want to experience. I come from a V8 Ute racing background where there is up to 30 odd cars there, which makes for some phenomenal racing.
