WHEN does champagne taste good at 10.30am? If you ask Bathurst driver Brad Schumacher it is after winning.
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Instead of chocolate on Easter morning, it was a drink of and shower in champagne for Schumacher as he celebrated a brilliant long weekend at Mount Panorama.
Schumacher walked away from the opening round of the 2023 GT World Challenge Australia series with a personal best lap at the Mount, a pair of outright podiums and as the undefeated class leader.
Given he's stepped up in class this season to now drive his Audi R8 LMS in the amateur division, it was the sort of start he and his Schumacher Motorsport team had dreamed of.
"I don't usually drink champagne, but after a podium where you get to spray it and it's all over you, it tastes really nice," Schumacher said.
"It was a really cool way to finish the weekend, outright podium for two races and of course first in the amateur category. It couldn't have started better for Schumacher Motorsport."
While starting the season with a class clean sweep had Schumacher beaming, so too did his efforts in Saturday's qualifying as he clocked his fastest ever lap around Mount Panorama.
On his sixth lap of the session the Bathurst driver peeled off a 2:03.8948 flier. Only Supercars young gun Broc Feeney, Triple Eight boss Jamie Whincup and official Audi driver Max Hofer went faster.
After lowering his personal best time by close to one and a half seconds to crack the 2:03s - something that not even all the current Supercars drivers can boast at Bathurst - Schumacher revealed that he could have gone even faster.
"That was pretty cool, I'd love to say it was the perfect lap, but I actually lost the rear out of The Cutting and had to correct it slightly, I just had a little bit too much mid-corner speed which cost me a couple of tenths," he said.
"But I've joined the three club, it's a pretty cool feeling to be fanging it around and be down in the 2:03s in Bathurst. I think I can die a happy man now.
"The track conditions weren't ideal for it either, it was a bit hairy out there. There wasn't much rubber down because there's been rain and these production cars with the MRF tyres, they don't lay any rubber.
"So it was on the edge the whole way, it definitely wasn't comfortable at all, it was push the limits.
"It's quite cool to be up there and just as fast as the factory Audi driver and the pros. It's a fantastic feeling."
That lap saw Schumacher start off the front row in the first of the two one hour races that made up the series' season opener.
He maintained second spot early on then when leader Liam Talbot pitted his Audi, Schumacher opted to stay out a touch longer and led the race for three laps.
After his stop he dropped to second and on lap 17, with with just over 40 minutes of the race gone, Garnet Patterson pulled off a move on his inside at Forrest's Elbow in his Porsche 911.
Schumacher crossed the line in third outright and first in class, his closest amateur rival being 66 seconds behind him.
For race two Schumacher started from fourth on the grid in the rolling start. He lost one spot - to Patterson - as he climbed Mountain Straight for the first time.
He pitted on lap 11, a move taken much earlier than his rivals, and after that climbed back through the field and pulled off a successful undercut.
"We just decided to come in early for our pit stop today just to get some clean air," he said.
"Paul Stokell had a lot of pace behind me and it's a long race, so rather than getting into a battle, I decided to just pull into the pit and get our pit stop out of the way and fortunately it worked out perfectly.
"It put us in a position where I was able to get some clean air. I just put my head down and chased the cars ahead which I was able to do by the end of the race."
Schumacher was back into fourth outright with just under five minutes remaining, with his nearest class rival some 36 seconds behind him.
Those final five minutes saw him close the gap to third-placed Geoff Emery and on his final lap, Schumacher pulled off a move at The Chase to put himself on the outright podium once more.
"I was always going to have a crack, that's what I do," Schumacher said.
"It was really fun to have that battle with Geoff at the end, I'm really thankful he's a gentleman racer and he can race fast and hard but also leave space when need be.
"The lap before I got Geoff into Murrays Corner, but he has so much experience racing Carrera Cup, he got the overlap out of the turn. It was really cool actually to see a guy have that kind of talent.
"The next lap I decided to get a good run out of Forrest's Elbow and really get some drive down the straight. It worked out so I could make the move into The Chase.
"I was really glad to be able to make that move two laps out from the finish."
Schumacher's strong weekend sees him with a 14-point lead in his class standings.
Round two will be at Perth on April 28-30.
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