William Exton left the rest in his wake as he grabbed pole position for the first race at the penultimate round of the
Toyota 86 Championship at Hampton Downs this morning.
In a hugely competitive qualifying session with the top twenty cars covered by a second, there were a few surprises but
Exton maintained his good run of form to take pole position.
Third in the title chase, Exton will start ahead of Jackson Rooney in second and Hayden Bakkerus in his best qualifying
position of the championship so far in third.
Championship leader Hunter Robb will start on the outside of the second row in fourth, just a couple of tenths of a
second away from Exton’s pole position lap time.William Exton will start from pole position in Saturday’s first race.Picture Bruce Jenkins.
A surprise in fifth is Australian racer Tyler Collins on his first visit to the North Waikato circuit and competing in
the New Zealand specification Toyota 86 for the first time too. Alongside him on the third row for this afternoon’s race
will be Justin Allen.
Championship challenger Tom Bewley left himself plenty to do in the race with seventh fastest time only, but Bewley’s
race pace has been startling on occasion this season and he can be expected to make progress in the afternoon’s race.
Harry Townshend lines up alongside Bewley on the fourth row of the grid while William Morton maintained his strong
testing form to bag a top ten spot in ninth alongside Tayler Bryant.
Further back Alice Buckley was top woman in 13th ahead of a returning Breanna Morris in 16th, Christina Orr-West in 17th
and Summer Rintoule in 19th. John Penny – fastest of all in Friday testing – could only manage 15th in qualifying.
2023-2024 Toyota 86 Championship – Round 5 Hampton Downs - Qualifying142William ExtonRace Lab Drivers Academy230Jackson RooneyRace Lab Drivers Academy320Hayden BakkerusMacKenzie Motorsport469Hunter RobbAction Motorsport577Tyler CollinsMacKenzie Motorsport699Justin AllenAllen Racing Team74Tom BewleyMackenzie Motorsport873Harry TownshendBayswater Motorsport911William MortoniMac Race Engineering1075Tayler BryantAction Motorsport1123Lockie BloxsomiMac Race Engineering128Thomas MallardCrème Racing133Alice BuckleyRace Lab Drivers Academy1481Cormac MurphyRace Lab Drivers Academy1522John PennyAction Motorsport165Breanna Morris1755Christina Orr-WestDayle ITM Racing1850Ryan DenizeMacKenzie Motorsport1987Summer RintouleAction Motorsport2088Noel SimpsonAction Motorsport21333Caleb Byers
2023-2024 Toyota 86 Championship
Round 1 – November 17-19 – Taupo International Motorsport Park
Round 2 – January 26-28 – Manfeild – Circuit Chris Amon
Round 3 – February 9-11 – Euromarque Motorsport Park
Round 4 – February 16-18 – Highlands Motorsport Park – NZ Grand Prix
Round 5 – March 15-17 – Hampton Downs Motorsport Park
Round 6 – April 19-21 – Taupo International Motorsport Park – Supercars