Simon Evans led from start to finish at Highlands Motorsport Park. Picture Bruce Jenkins
Pole position holder Simon Evans was unstoppable in the first race of the Toyota 86 Championship today, racing away from
Justin Allen to win at Highlands Motorsport Park.
Evans was untroubled throughout the race in his Wet & Forget car, building a lead of almost two seconds at half way. He carried on edging away and ultimately took the
chequered flag with around four seconds in hand over second placed Allen in the NAPA Autoparts car.
It was one of the most dominant Toyota 86 race wins in recent seasons and Evans was delighted to win, especially on dad
Owen's birthday. "It was really good. The start was great and I was committed to going side by side and ensuring I had
the lead. It wasn’t easy but once I was ahead, I just concentrated on keeping it clean and not making any mistakes.
Thankfully, that was enough to edge away and win.”
Allen - aside from a moment of drama when rookie Dion Pitt had a failed attempt at a pass - had a lonely run in second.
Pitt, super-impressive in his first race in the category, bagged the last spot on the podium despite losing time when
trying to take Allen for second.
"I ran wide and all of a sudden the guys behind were there," said Dion afterwards. "I just about managed to keep them
behind so I'm stoked. Simon's quick but we'll keep working at it and see where we get to."
Pitt did well to stay ahead of the fierce battle for fourth, which became third when he fell back into the train that
comprised Marco Giltrap in the Lexus supported Giltrap Racing entry, Clay Osborne in his Power & Earth car and Friday pace setter Hugo Allan in his Heart of Racing entry. This group was nose to tail for the majority
of the race.
Behind them, Rowan Shepherd put in a champion's drive to climb from 11th on the grid to an impressive seventh place at
the flag after a disappointing qualifying run in the morning.
Behind him Matthew McCutcheon impressed in his debut TR86 race to bag a top ten result with eighth, while Ronan Murphy
also drove well to improve from his starting position to ninth. John Penny, the oldest racer in the category, rounded
out the top ten with a solid drive to take the Masters Trophy class victory. Further back Christina Orr-West, Rianna
O'Meara-Hunt and Chelsea Herbert ran together for much of the race and all ultimately finished in the top 15.
Sunday morning brings a reverse top ten grid, with Evans and Allen starting from the fifth row with Penny on pole
position and Murphy on the front row alongside him.
"I’m going to have to make some brave but wise calls," added the race winner. "I need to move forward but a DNF will
really hurt my chances, as a DNF will for anyone else in the championship."Toyota 86 Championship 2022 –Round 1 Highlands Motorsport Park – Race 1 resultPos #NAMETEAM14Simon EVANSGiltrap Group Motorsport299Justin ALLENInternational Motorsport35Dion PITTAction Motorsport484Marco GILTRAPGiltrap Group Motorsport515Clay OSBORNEJames Marshall Motorsport623Hugo ALLANThe Heart of Racing71Rowan SHEPHERDAction Motorsport896Matthew MCCUTCHEONAction Motorsport991Ronan MURPHYAction Motorsport1022John PENNYAction Motorsport1174Todd PRUJEANRichards Motorsport1272Zac STICHBURYMackenzie Motorsport1355Christina ORR-WESTDayle ITM1452Rianna O'MEARA-HUNTThe Heart of Racing1525Chelsea HERBERTThe Heart of Racing168Mark MALLARDMark Mallard Racing17222Todd FOSTERInternational Motorsport1814Fynn OSBORNEJames Marshall Motorsport199Sam COTTERILLInternational Motorsport2011Will MORTONiMac Race Engineering2110Brock GILCHRISTCareVets Racing