49 cars started at Adelaide, a street circuit with 18 pit stalls. The grid held 22 GT3s, 11 PCUPs and 16 GT4s, and commentator Howie Burrows called the place "the toughest street circuit in the whole sim." Grid-and-Go.com eSports led GT3 from BS+COMPETITION after a season-long fight. Bleu Mercure Esport led PCUP and Team75 Bernhard by SimRC led GT4. Only the 12-hour Silverstone finale was left after this round.

WSR Esports' Marley Joffe took overall pole, then made a mistake on lap 2 and dropped to fifth. Jarno Koch inherited the lead in the Grid-and-Go #1 and pulled away. He was 5s clear at T+23m and 10s clear at T+42m. Eclipse Simsports lost their PCUP on lap 1 and PolePromotion Esports lost theirs at T+12m. Team75 led GT4 by so much that the booth said at T+5m, "You'd think this is the only GT4 in the race."

This is your race leader in his own postcode.

— Booth call, T+42m

Almost every first stop was fuel only, because teams wanted track position more than fresh tyres. Koch pitted from the lead at T+45m. While the GT3s sat in the lane, Gunonso Tasdelen briefly led overall from T+48m in the Grid-and-Go #901, helped by the PCUP car's fuel economy. GT3 took the overall lead back by T+55m.

The strategies split at the second stops. BS+COMPETITION sent Lucas Hermann out on 4 new tyres at T+1h29m. Grid-and-Go #1 and UNI-G Racing #26 both sent a driver out on the same tyres for a third stint. At T+1h39m the WSR car went around the outside of Turn 8 while fighting for fourth, hit the marbles and had what the booth called "a massive accident". A BS+HYBRID car clipped the wreck, and the pole car's race was over.

The two tyre strategies met on track at T+1h46m. UNI-G's Dániel Oláh was 80 laps into his set, Hermann's were 13 laps old, and Hermann went past. Grid-and-Go pitted at T+2h18m, after 105 laps on one set, and handed the #1 to Sven Haase.

How vulnerable is Dániel Oláh? How viable is this triple stinting tires strategy?

— Booth call, T+1h45m

On new tyres Haase was the only driver lapping in the 1:17s, and he caught Hermann, who led for BS+COMPETITION after the stops. The gap fell from about 5s at T+2h31m to 0.3s moments before the clash. At T+2h42m Haase dived to the inside at Turn 5 and the two cars collided through Turns 5 and 6. Hermann spun 360 degrees. The booth thought BS+COMPETITION had not left a car's width, and the stewards later agreed. Hermann fought back side by side at Turn 9 and pushed Haase onto the grass, and Haase cut Turn 2 in the fight that followed.

The damaged #1 went to its pit stall for repairs, and Grid-and-Go filed a report against BS+COMPETITION at T+2h48m. At T+3h13m the booth confirmed they had told race control they would not continue. The car had led 95 laps, more than any other GT3. Other cars kept crashing too, and at T+2h49m the booth said, "Everyone has lost their minds at the Adelaide Street Circuit... and none of these situations are kangaroo related."

The stewards ruled on the clash at T+3h46m. They gave the #89 60s for running wide, going off the brakes and sending the #1 into the wall, plus 5s for pushing it off at Turn 14. Only Falken's 60s for hitting a PCUP matched it as the heaviest penalty of the day. BS+COMPETITION had served theirs by T+4h35m and rejoined 10th, a lap down. They finished fifth.

Once the #89 had served it, Maniti Racing Green led on a "double, triple, triple" tyre strategy, with Tim Matzke on what should be the last set. The booth noted at T+4h09m that teams "could barely double stint them at Aragon earlier in the season", and here triple stinting was the fastest strategy. Maniti also carried a 10s penalty for contact with a Myrmica car at Turn 13 at T+3h03m, and they had not served it.

Marry the driver to the tires, not the other way around.

— Booth call, T+4h48m

BS+HYBRID chose the opposite strategy, with fresher tyres on a double stint. Phil Denes was 5s behind at T+4h46m. Once his tyres were warm he closed to 1.5s by T+4h57m and to 0.2s by T+5h12m. At T+5h18m he got through. The TV replays showed the BMW alongside at the apex, while the stewards logged a late move that did not make the apex. Either way #90 got only a warning and kept the lead.

The final stops put Maniti back in front on the road. Matzke took a short fill and drove past the penalty box at T+5h20m, so the stewards would add his 10s after the flag. BS+HYBRID changed drivers to Karel Staut, and the change cost them the lead by T+5h26m. To keep second once the stewards added the penalty, Maniti needed more than 10s over Oláh's UNI-G. The gap stayed between 9.4s and 10.3s from T+5h33m to T+5h43m.

PCUP was a quieter race. Tasdelen's #901 led PCUP from pole, was 20.8s clear at T+1h20m and 40s clear of Impulse Racing at T+4h53m. Adrian Gericke took it to the flag, 10th overall and 1 lap ahead of Impulse. Bleu Mercure Esport #932 finished third, 2 laps down, which left them level with the #901 on 72 points.

GT4 was messier. Team Checkmate Wolak Group took the lead with a fuel-only stop while Team75 took fresh tyres. Adam Isaksson went three-wide through the final corner for second at T+3h20m and took the lead at Turn 1 at T+3h29m. A GT3 then forced him over the Turn 2 chicane, and he served a slowdown. A spin at the final corner at T+3h54m and contact with Falken cost about 10s. A second spin, in a bunched-up group of PCUP cars, cut a 45s lead at T+4h17m to just over 30s by T+4h30m. Gareth Higgins still had 25s in hand with 2 laps left and won the class for Team75.

Oh, that's a way to win a race, isn't it? No rear wing.

— Booth call, T+6h02m

Matzke was leading on the road at T+5h53m when he spun at Turn 3. "They were always going to inherit," the booth said of BS+HYBRID. The booth reckoned that with the 10s added, Maniti were about 21s back at T+5h54m.

Staut took the chequered flag in the #90 at T+6h00m, a win from sixth on the grid for him and Denes. Sister car BS+COMPETITION were fifth on the road, and the two lined up a first-and-fifth photo finish. UNI-G took second, 6.7s back. Maniti crossed the line 9.7s behind the winner, and the 10s penalty did not cost them third.

Oh man what a race, survival was the name of the game.

— Phil Denes, GT3 winner

Grid-and-Go #1 still lead GT3 on 76 points despite retiring here, with 2 class wins and 4 podiums. BS+COMPETITION #89 are 8 behind on 68, Maniti Racing Green #78 have 66 and UNI-G Racing #26 have 60. A finish of 4th or better at Silverstone makes the #1 champions whatever anyone else does. The #89 also have 2 wins, so a win at Silverstone would give them the tiebreak if the two cars end level on points.

Bleu Mercure Esport #932 and Grid-and-Go #901 are level on 72 in PCUP. Whichever of the two finishes ahead at Silverstone outscores the other, and a class win makes either car champion. Impulse Racing #915 are 2 points back on 70, and a win makes them champions unless the #901 finish second.

Team75 #475 lead GT4 on 80 with 4 class wins, so every tie goes their way, and a finish of 5th or better wins them the title. Byte.Collino Max #444 are second on 72 with 5 podiums and no wins, so they need to finish ahead of Team75 on points, not just level. The finale is 12 hours at Silverstone on 31 October. It pays the normal points scale, and no team can drop its score.