Challenge Bathurst 2025 WRAP UP
WEBBER & HEXTALL DRIVE WITH RACEAWAY
Challenge is by far one of our favourite events. It’s as competitive as you want it to be with a supersprint or regularity format and there’s a wide mix of cars from some serious eye candy straight through to regular racers in Pulsars and Excels. It presents as a training ground where the focus is on you & your lap times.
Eleanor Webber at Challenge Bathurst 2025 driving the RaceAway Mazda SP25
This year, the team were stoked to be bringing along two drivers: Jake Hextall in our Mazda RX8 and Eleanor Webber in the Mazda SP25. We also supported familiar face Raph Wood in his stunning Mustang.
The first two sessions — Familiarity and Practice — were red-flag specials with other cars exploring track limits and sampling the gravel traps. We finished on a high with a fab first sprint in the afternoon getting some proper laps down and smiles all round. With very little data from the mornings sessions we kept the car setup the same despite the heat and the drivers produced decent times.
Eleanor: 2:58.9040
Jake: 2:49.7330
Friday morning brought cool air and a fresh reset. The difference showed immediately:
Session 1:
Eleanor: 2:54.8740
Jake: 2:47.8030
Session 2:
A bit more traffic, a few friendly battles, and more consistency:
Eleanor: 2:54.5900
Jake: 2:48.6530
We wrapped up the day with Jake sliding in another consistent best at 2:48.3510.
Jake Hextall Challenge Bathurst 2025 in the RaceAway RX8
In regards to car setup - we ran the SP25 with the same setup we used for the Bathurst 6 Hour: endurance-focused, Hankook control tyres (28 psi front, 32 rear), and Circo pads. The focus with this front wheel drive was to have Eleanor explore the nuances of driving it through the corners.
The RX8 ran it’s usual RX8 Cup setup on Nankang AR1 semis, Circo pads and 26 psi hot all round.
Coach Phil noted -
“For first-timers, Bathurst is all about driving within your limits, building familiarity and learning the lines. Every corner is a surprise the first day — muscle memory just isn’t there yet.”
Particular emphasis went into working The Cutting and Forest Elbow — two corners that have caught out many drivers over the years because of rubber build-up, narrow margins and the consequences of being even slightly off-line. When we asked Jake about his thoughts on Bathurst he commented -
“I love this place … It’s intimidating, it’s huge, there’s no margin for error”
By the end of Day 2, both drivers were running at about 80% of the car’s capacity — exactly where we wanted them. Our goal with Challenge it’s to build the driver. Confidence, focus and fast reflexes come first. The lap time naturally follows. More importantly, this approach creates a solid foundation of racecraft that carries across to any track, any car and any racing format.
The whole team was genuinely proud of both Jake and Eleanor. We’ve watched their growth over the past year, and this weekend showed just how far they’ve come.
Eleanor summed it up beautifully:
“It was a phenomenal experience that both challenged me and taught me so much! Huge shoutout to the entire RaceAway Track Time crew for the coaching, advice and support. Definitely won’t be the last time!”
She later messaged:
“There are no words to express how amazing the week was. I’ve learned so much from both the successes and my mistakes — and I know there’s so much more to work on.”
A massive shoutout to all our team and crew: Jason Varley, Lachie Mineef, Nathan Gregory, Tony Moore, Manarth Prasad, Rod Tippett and of course our head coach Phil Alexander.
Check out Jake’s battle with a Honda Civic across the top of Mount Panorama ⤵️
Is Bathurst on your Bucket List?
Challenge Bathurst is the perfect event to drive Mount Panorama. It’s an accessible event with easy licensing requirements. If taking on Mount Panorama is on your bucket list, we can get you there — safely, professionally and with a fully prepared race car waiting for you at pit lane.
We offer Arrive ’n’ Drive packages for Bathurst events, including:
Race Car Hire: Mazda SP25, Mazda RX8, Toyota ‘86, BMW M3, Mazda MX5
Comprehensive crew support
Coaching with Phil Alexander
Admin, Catering, Logistics, Transport and full team backing
👉 Want to talk about racing at Bathurst?
Get in touch — we’d love to help you take on the Mountain.
