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Exton Takes Control Of Qualifying At Hampton Downs
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.
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 - Qualifying
| 1 | 42 | William Exton | Race Lab Drivers Academy |
| 2 | 30 | Jackson Rooney | Race Lab Drivers Academy |
| 3 | 20 | Hayden Bakkerus | MacKenzie Motorsport |
| 4 | 69 | Hunter Robb | Action Motorsport |
| 5 | 77 | Tyler Collins | MacKenzie Motorsport |
| 6 | 99 | Justin Allen | Allen Racing Team |
| 7 | 4 | Tom Bewley | Mackenzie Motorsport |
| 8 | 73 | Harry Townshend | Bayswater Motorsport |
| 9 | 11 | William Morton | iMac Race Engineering |
| 10 | 75 | Tayler Bryant | Action Motorsport |
| 11 | 23 | Lockie Bloxsom | iMac Race Engineering |
| 12 | 8 | Thomas Mallard | Crème Racing |
| 13 | 3 | Alice Buckley | Race Lab Drivers Academy |
| 14 | 81 | Cormac Murphy | Race Lab Drivers Academy |
| 15 | 22 | John Penny | Action Motorsport |
| 16 | 5 | Breanna Morris | |
| 17 | 55 | Christina Orr-West | Dayle ITM Racing |
| 18 | 50 | Ryan Denize | MacKenzie Motorsport |
| 19 | 87 | Summer Rintoule | Action Motorsport |
| 20 | 88 | Noel Simpson | Action Motorsport |
| 21 | 333 | Caleb 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
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