Strong Showing for Project X Racing at Pro Tour


team press release 3 September 2015

Queensland based Project X Racing were out in force at the penultimate round of the Rotax Pro Tour National Series at Victoria’s Puckapunyal circuit with 14 drivers competing across six separate race categories, all gaining critical experience ahead of a home track event for the final round in Ipswich in October.

In Junior Max Trophy, it would be Jace Matthews who would headline the weekend’s results for Project X Racing, qualifying sixth, Matthews recovered from a DNF in heat two to secure fifth and fourth in heat three and the pre-final respectively before going one better in the final and picking up third and a podium result overall.

Rhys Astley was the best qualifier of the five Junior Max drivers for Project X Racing with 12th and being just 0.3 seconds from pole position. Despite finishing down the order in heat one, Astley improved to secure a weekend best result of 11th in heat two, backing this up with 12th and 14th in heat three and the pre-final, however a DNF in the final ended his weekend prematurely. Harrison Hoey proved to be the best finisher of the group, claiming tenth in the final, after starting from the rear due to a DNF in the pre-final. Hoey qualified 15th, finishing as high as 12th in the heats.

Lachlan Hughes provided a strong showing, finishing up in sixth in heat two after qualifying in 16th. Mixed results in the heat races, in addition to a DNF in the pre-final would see him start from the rear in the final. An opening lap crash and rollover for Lachlan brought out a red flag with him also being transferred to hospital for further assessment after being seen by trackside paramedics. Hughes was cleared by hospital medical staff post-event of any serious injury.

Nathan Hadlow made continued improvements across the course of the weekend, eventually finishing in 16th in the final after sitting outside the top 20 throughout qualifying and the heat races, while it was a varied weekend for Kade Vink, stepping into the top 20 during the heat races, Vink did not finish the pre-final while he also did not start the final.

Mini Max qualifying would see just 1.5 seconds cover the entire 21 kart field with two drivers representing the Project X Racing stable. Declan Matthews was 16th fastest with a 46.847, transferring that into two 15th place finishes and a 14th in the heat races. An improvement in the pre-final with tenth was then backed up by another top ten finish in the final. Jacinta Hoey experienced a mixed weekend during the early races, though an improvement in the pre-final elevated her to 11th. On the back of this, a 13th place result in the final continued to add to the young Queenslander’s experience behind the wheel at a National level.

It proved to be a mixed weekend for Dalton Ellery amongst the Project X Racing Rotax Light drivers, qualifying 11th, Ellery finished as high as 13th across the minor races, while starting 14th in the final after setting the quickest lap in the pre-final, Dalton finished 17th in the competitive field. Joshua Davey qualified 13th amongst the strong Rotax Light field, finishing up in 11th in heat two, however the weekend ended on a sour note for Davey with a DNF in the final after starting 16th.

A solid improvement in the final for Blake Worboys after recorded a DNF result in heat two and three and the pre-final on the back of finishing 20th in Friday afternoon’s opening twelve lap event saw him step up and take 11th. A DNF result in heat one for Brandon Doolan was improved upon across the weekend as he elevated himself into the top 20, though after starting 21st in the final he would be a non-finisher.

Tristan Ellery kick-started his weekend in DD2 in good form, qualifying inside the top ten. After finishing around the mid-pack throughout the heat races, Ellery worked his way back into the top ten in the pre-final, however a DNF in the final ended Tristan’s weekend early. In DD2 Masters, Peter Virgulti came through to take 11th overall in the final aboard his Ricciardo Kart, after having qualified 15th, he worked his way progressively through the field across the races before being hot on the heels of the ten by the completion of the weekend.

William Yarwood – Team Principal, Project X Racing

“It was certainly great to have a big showing for Project X Racing at Puckapunyal. We achieved some good results across the board in the various classes and were also able to identify areas of improvement for our drivers both in setup and their own performance behind the wheel and this will subsequently allow us to step things up ahead of the final round in Ipswich.”

“Racing at our home track for the Rotax Grand Final will be a big deal so there will be plenty of testing ahead of that event to prepare our drivers. The fields are always big at Ipswich so we will be working hard to be on top of our game and aim to bring away some silverware to cap off a busy season for the Project X Racing Rotax drivers.”

 

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