Two Circuits, Two Days: RaceAway's Weekend at Sydney Motorsport Park and Pheasant Wood
Two days, two circuits, two completely different formats. Saturday at Sydney Motorsport Park for Round 7 of the MRA Championship Series. Sunday at Pheasant Wood for Round 2 of the Triple Challenge.
SATURDAY β MX5 Cup, Sydney Motorsport Park
Three RaceAway cars on the Gardner circuit in a field of twenty-four.
Rod at the sharp end
Rod Tippett (#95) spent the day as the first naturally aspirated car home β P4 outright in Race 2 and P5 in Race 3, with nothing but forced induction cars ahead of him on both occasions.
The thing that stands out is his consistency:
Session Best lap Finish
Qualifying 1:47.6640 P6
Race 1 1:47.5510 P6
Race 2 1:48.3280 P4
Race 3 1:48.8890 P5
Only 1.3 seconds covers his entire weekend.
Eleanor Webber (#69) and Jake Weragoda (#35) were there to build β and both found about thirteen seconds a lap in a single day.
Eleanor: 2:10.1 in qualifying β 1:57.0 by Race 1.
Jake: 2:08.8 in qualifying β 1:55.9 by Race 2.
And they held it. These weren't one-off hero laps β once they found the time, it became the new normal.
Eleanor spent the day building commitment through Turn 1, probably the most intimidating corners on the track. She got her speed up to just under 200km/h through there and really started to master it.
This was Jake's first solo race. He worked Turn 2 β a proper double apex that catches plenty of people out β on track positioning, because getting the entry right lifts your speed threshold through the whole next sequence. Worked on comms, lap after lap.
That's what a live race environment gives you over a test day: fix the corner while the problem's still fresh, then try it again on the very next lap.
Also out on Saturday was Andrew Chalouhi racing APRA. His standout was race 3 battling through the field to 14th place with a best time of 1:55.9. A stellar effort improving his times over the day by 2 seconds.Β
SUNDAY β Pheasant Wood Triple Challenge, Round 2
Different circuit, different format, and a small but seriously quality field. Not many cars, but a lot of experience in them β which made for some of the best racing.
Four drivers in the RaceAway car (#69): Phil Alexander, Eleanor Webber, Alec Traina and Brandon "Spud" Lucas.
Qualifying set the tone β P1 with a 1:00.8930, two and a quarter seconds clear of the field.
The sprints
Sprint 1 β Phil, P1. Won it by seven tenths from Marulan Carpentry after a proper scrap.
Sprint 2 β Alec, P3. More on that below.
Sprint 3 β Eleanor, P3. A 1:04.7280 β on her second full day of racing in two days, at a circuit she'd swapped to overnight.
Sprint 4 β Brandon, P1. Won by 1.7 seconds and set the fastest lap of the race with a 1:02.6300.
Four sprints, two wins and two thirds. A podium in every single race.
Sunday was Alec Traina's very first race meeting.
He started out in the 1:05s. By Sprint 2 he was running 1:03.6980 and finished third.
Two seconds a lap off your own time, in your first ever event, against a field of experienced drivers. A fantastic debut.
We spent most of the 2 hour enduro mixing it up with the Marulan Carpentry crew. Genuinely excellent racing.
They crossed the line first. But they'd only completed six of their seven compulsory pit stops, and the penalty cost them four laps β which handed us the outright win.
Our car covered 96 laps in 1:55:16, with a best lap of 1:03.3380.
Joining us on the grid was Andrew Chalouhi with team members Cameron White & newcomer Ronnie Smith. TheΒ Pulsar suffered a CV failure in Sprint 2 and was out after two laps. What followed was a flat-out repair effort and a sprint to the workshop and back to get the car race-ready for the enduro.
It made the grid. And then it ran faultlessly for nearly two hours, finished third in class β and set the fastest lap in its group with a 1:03.7150.
Big shout out to Eleanor who raced a full day at Sydney Motorsport Park on Saturday, then backed it up with a full day at Pheasant Wood on Sunday β and took a third place in Sprint 3 while she was at it.Β
Two race days back to back at two tracks is a big physical and mental ask, and she was quick at both.
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Fancy a go?
Most of the drivers in our garage this weekend started with no track experience at all β including one who had his first ever race on Sunday and finished third.
If you've been watching and wondering how you'd get from the fence to a grid, our free First-Timer's Guide to Getting Into Motorsport covers licensing, gear, real costs and the pathway.
Or tell us your experience level and we'll point you at the right first step.
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