Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Selected Driver Dorian Boccolacci showed great pace on his maiden GT World Challenge Australia outing, securing pole position and a strong points finish, alongside Shane Smollen, for EMA Motorsport this weekend.

After opening his 2025 campaign with a podium at the 12 Hours of Sepang, Boccolacci continued his strong form, setting a stunning lap with the fastest time across both qualifying sessions to put the #911 Porsche 911 GT3 R on pole at Phillip Island for Sunday’s event. His teammate Smollen would also produce a great effort to ensure the duo started the season opener from fifth.

On Saturday, the former Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Pro-Am champion got them off to a positive start, fighting and holding his position before handing over to Boccolacci. After exiting the pit-lane, the Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Selected Driver continued to battle away and on the last lap made his way into the top five, eventually finishing fourth completing a strong result for the team.

Starting on pole for Race 2, Boccolacci showed excellent pace settling into a good rhythm after getting overtaken for the lead on the opening tour, maintaining second place before the pit-stop. Smollen came out in third and a podium looked likely with just minutes remaining, however a late puncture forced the squad into another stop as they crossed the line in 12th. Additionally, EMA Motorsport recorded the fastest lap during both races over the course of the weekend.

GT World Challenge Australia now heads up the East Coast to Sydney Motorsport Park in New South Wales on 2-4 May for the second event of the 2025 season.

Shane Smollen, EMA Motorsport: “We had a fair bit thrown at us this weekend but there were plenty of positives. It was really encouraging to be competitive against experienced GT3 AM drivers, helping to secure a P4 finish on Saturday. It was an awesome effort from Dorian to achieve pole for today’s race and we’re disappointed that the tyre failure took us out of contention, as the squad really deserved better. I’m looking forward to seeing the team continue to develop as we head to Sydney Motorsport Park for the next round, aiming to convert our speed into more good points.”

Dorian Boccolacci, EMA Motorsport: “It was a positive debut weekend in the championship where we showed that we’ve got the speed in the car, taking pole position and the fastest lap in both races. In Race 1 we picked up a good haul of points and then could’ve been on the podium without the puncture in the second event. The potential shown during this opening round is a good sign for the season and we’ll look to maximise it next time out in Sydney.”

Alexandre Gibot, Managing Director Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Ltd.: “We’re delighted to kick off the new 2025 GT World Challenge Australia campaign and our new chapter of supporting GT3 customers in Australia. Both Dorian and Shane showed excellent pace, securing pole position for Race 1 and the fastest lap in both races as they were unlucky to not pick up a podium, but scored still some good points. It’s a solid start to the year for the EMA Motorsport team and we know that they can continue to build on this when the series returns in Sydney next month.”