Jake Hextall takes on One Raceway: NSW Production Touring Round 4 wrap-up
One Raceway · NSW Production Touring Championship · RaceAway / Hextall Motorsport
Jake Hextall and the RaceAway / Hextall Motorsport Mazda RX8 headed to One Raceway last weekend for Round 4 of the Motorsport Australia NSW Motor Race Championship, run over the Shelley Circuit layout. The event featured two 60-minute enduros alongside qualifying and sprint sessions, and doubled as a crucial data-gathering weekend ahead of the RX8 Cup round in November.
The goals for the weekend were simple: get familiar with the Shelley layout, bank seat time in the RX8, and get some hard racing in against a strong field of production cars. On all three counts, it was a great weekend – even if the final results sheet doesn't tell that story.
Qualifying
Jake qualified 12th in the first session with a best of 1:11.544 – solid pace in a competitive Class D field and a promising sign for what was to come.
Sprint 1 – P11
A clean run in the opening sprint race saw Jake bring the RX8 home in 11th from 15 laps, with a fastest lap of 1:11.381. The pace was there and consistent lap after lap.
Enduro 1 – P11, 41 laps
Into the first hour-long enduro, Jake kept the car clean and consistent across 41 laps, crossing the line 11th with a best lap of 1:11.607.
Sprint 2 – P8, the standout of the weekend
This was the session that summed up the weekend's progress. Jake crossed the line 8th outright – his best result of the round – and did it with the fastest lap he set all weekend, a 1:11.167 set on lap 12 of a 13-lap race.
It was the clearest sign yet that the work of the weekend – learning Shelley, building seat time, racing wheel to wheel with the production field – was paying off exactly where it counts: outright pace and a top-10 finish among a strong field of production cars.
Enduro 2 – the one that got away
Enduro 2 is where the weekend's story really lies. After a pit stop, Jake rejoined right in the thick of a battle for position, emerging just behind a Class C Astra with McMaster/Bolton close behind.
"We had to make a pit entry and when I came out it was the last couple of laps of the enduro battle. I entered right behind this C class Astra with McMaster and Bolton behind me. I came out of the fishhook and saw an opening, then went around the outside of the Astra and got him at the top of the hill. Entered the final complex, came in on the wheel – and then the rotor went bye bye."
A brilliant, committed move around the outside to make the pass, only for a rotor failure to end the race moments later on lap 38, having already set a fastest lap of 1:11.477 – right in the mix with the pace he'd shown all weekend.
The takeaway
DNF on the results sheet, but a genuinely great weekend underneath it. Jake ticked every box heading into the weekend: got to grips with the Shelley layout, banked serious seat time, and got right into the mealy with some fast cars. 
Coach Phil summed it up best:
"The consistency showed in the numbers and that's our takeaway for the weekend, with the best race being the second sprint. He was very consistent across all the races, equalling his qualifying time. There were some excellent battles out on the field which only adds to his experience."
Stay tuned for more from RaceAway / Hextall Motorsport as we build toward the RX8 Cup Round 4 at Winton raceway.
