From P16 to Top 10: Jake Hextall's Breakthrough Weekend at SMSP
Round 3 of the 2026 MSA NSW Motor Race Championship RX8 Cup landed at Sydney Motorsport Park this past weekend with fantastic day/night racing that brought a bag of tricks.
We had Jake Hextall behind the wheel, who walked away with the Most Improved Driver award after clawing his way from a tricky qualifying session into two top ten finishes by the end of the day.
A Tough Start in Practice and Qualifying
It wasn't the smoothest beginning. As coach Phil Alexander put it:
"Practice and quali didn't quite deliver the results we were hoping for, for whatever reason. We did some subtle setup changes to the front and rear toe to get the car more in the window, and it made it more responsive to driver inputs. The car ended up easier to drive, and it showed in the times. We also had a lot of changing track conditions to compete with — hot morning sun and then much lower temps at night."
Jake qualified 16th in the No. 53 Raceaway / Hextall Motorsport Mazda RX8, with the field separated by less than five seconds across 18 cars.
Race Day: The Climb Begins
Race 1 saw Jake bring the car home in 14th, still searching for the sweet spot. Then the turnaround began as adjustments were clearly starting to pay off - the car became more predictable under load, and Jake responded immediately, climbing to 9th in Race 2 for Raceaway's first top ten finish of the weekend.
He didn't let up from there. Race 3 saw him cross the line in P11, and he backed it up again in Race 4, finishing 8th with a fastest lap of 1:51.208 to match it.
From a 16th-place qualifying effort to two top ten finishes - just an awesome result.
In Jake's Words
"That was easily the best and most rewarding weekend I've had in motorsport to date. We dug deep and focused heavily on driving techniques and understanding the platform of the car, with some main focus points being Turn 2, Turn 8, and finally the last section of the track (Turns 10 & 11) to really fix my run onto the straight. All in all, it wasn't a win, a podium or a top 5, but all the vibes and morale was there — and to race the car back into the top ten at SMSP twice was extremely rewarding. Getting the Most Improved Driver award for the weekend was the cherry on top!! Plus, how could you pass up the style points with the underglow 😉"
A Stacked Field of Raceaway Drivers
We were pretty stoked to see the packed grid of drivers who've come up through or driven with Raceaway,- so much talent out there:
- Grant Bray
- Stephen Doorey
- Maisie Place
- Mark Wilks
- Rob Scott
- Manarth Prasad
And a special mention to Geoff Linders, who drove with us last weekend in the Sydney 300 and absolutely blasted them out of the park this round!
Massive Thanks to the Crew and Our Partners
None of this happens without the people working behind the scenes every weekend. Huge love to our crew: Rod Tippett, Phil Alexander, Lachie Mineeff and Alyce Tippett — the backbone of every race day.
And a massive thank you to our sponsors and partners: On Pah Grading, Hextall Motorsport, Canobolas Motorsport Services, Maisie Place Motorsport, Chematek Australia, HomeGas, Shanes Signs, MWM Racing, One Raceway, Pheasant Wood Circuit
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