Project X Racing Enjoy Top Ten Results in Newcastle
| press release | 18 September 2015 |
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Queensland’s Jace Matthews has headlined another successful and learning weekend for Project X Racing at round four of the Australian Kart Championship in Newcastle with Matthews managing to take pole position overall and pick up a heat win with his team mates all sharing in a string of successes throughout the weekend, with their attention now turning towards the final round in Geelong in November.
A positive start to the weekend for Matthews saw him take pole position with a 51.538. The result would see him start from the front row for the heat races, though an incident in the first heat race beyond the control of Jace would cause a DNF result. A solid return in heat two saw him take the win, and the early stages of the third heat race was again showing promise for Jace as he opted to head out on wet tyres.
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Above: Harrison Hoey delivered some strong results on double duties in KF3 and KA Junior
A drying track across the course of the race would see him slip back through the field with the result placing him in 14th for the start of the final. A determined drive saw him move through to sixth by the completion wrapping up a successful weekend overall.
“We made a superb start to the weekend, qualifying in pole position in a field of 40 Karts which was a big achievement. Despite being involved in an incident in the first heat race, a solid drive in heat two saw us pick up the win. The gamble between wet and slick tyres for heat three looked like it was going to benefit us in the early stages of the race, however as the circuit dried out, we slipped back in the field.”
“To come from 14th to 6th in the final was encouraging on top of our pole position and heat win and has certainly given us plenty of confidence ahead of the final round where we will be looking to further develop the Kart to be back up the front.” – Jace Matthews.
Harrison Hoey was on double duties for the Newcastle event, pairing his commitments in KF3 with a drive in KA Junior. Starting the KF3 heat races from 21st, Harrison managed to pick up two tenth place finishes from the three heat races with a DNF in heat two due to a mechanical drama. Starting from 13th in the final, Harrison dropped back to 20th before moving up to take 11th.
In KA Junior, Harrison qualified 13th with a 51.757. The first heat race saw him move through to take fifth, before picking up 12th in heat two. In the third heat, Hoey was running as high as fourth before a drying track saw him slip back to 22nd, as a result he would start the final in ninth. With two laps remaining, sitting in seventh, the Queenslander came into contact with a stranded Kart that had not been moved, resulting in a large crash and a DNF finish. Harrison was cleared of any major injury following a medical assessment post-race.
“It was a busy, yet mixed weekend for myself, competing in both KF3 and KA Junior. We made good progress in heat one for both classes, picking up a good amount of positions which was important for our points situation for the event. The third heat in KA Junior was unfortunate with our decision to go with wet tyres as the track began to dry out throughout the race.”
“A stranded Kart in the final of KA Junior would disappointingly cause quite a major crash for myself, however, despite being sore I fought back to compete in the KF3 final and despite slipping back in the field early in the race, I managed to come through and take 11th. Although it was a bit of a disappointing end to the weekend, we certainly managed to achieve plenty of development in both Karts which should place us in a good position for the final round.” – Harrison Hoey
Brieann Moyse made good progress behind the wheel in the KA Junior category across the course of the weekend in Newcastle. Qualifying 25th with a 52.262 out of 40 Karts, Moyse recorded a DNF in heat one before claiming 26th in heat two. Whilst making up strong ground in heat three, a drying track saw her slip back to 28th. Starting the final in 34th, Brieann made up 12 places throughout the race to eventually finish in 22nd.
“We had a great weekend at Newcastle as part of the KA Junior class, qualifying 25th out of 40, we had an unfortunate DNF in the first heat though we made good progress in heat two. After putting on wets in heat three, the early stage of the race looked promising though a drying track saw me slip back to 28th. I managed to make a good run in the final, starting 34th, picking my way up to 22nd. It was another critical learning experience across the weekend and I have to thank William (Yarwood) and the Project X Racing Team for all their help and support.” – Brieann Moyse
Above: Brieann Moyse continued to gain experience at a National level in KA Junior at Newcastle
The Newcastle event was a beneficial one for Tayla Cullinane on many levels, gaining yet more critical experience at a National level. Qualifying 21st overall with a 52.085, Tayla moved through to 18th in heat one before taking 24th in heat two. Despite a disappointing DNF result in heat three, Cullinane was involved in many battles throughout the final, before finishing 31st, while gaining important setup developments throughout the weekend.
“It was another great learning experience with a team which had great results. We improved our Exprit Kart throughout the weekend and as a result I improved my ability to develop our setup and my ability behind the wheel, I was unlucky in a couple of battles but I enjoyed the racing overall and we have learnt plenty to carry through to the next event.” – Tayla Cullinane
William Yarwood – Team Principal, Project X Racing
“It proved to be a successful weekend on many levels for Project X Racing. I was excited to see Jace (Matthews) grab pole position and a win in the heat races which is a testament to the hard work he has put in behind the wheel throughout season 2015. Harrison (Hoey) was kept busy, competing in two classes and definitely performed well.”
“Both Tayla (Cullinane) and Brieann (Moyse) gained a lot of experience both in setup and development of their karts and time behind the wheel at a National level in Newcastle and you could certainly see them visually improve across the weekend. I’m really looking forward to the final round in Geelong where we will be looking all of our developments and practice into motion to wrap up the year with some big results.”
The next major event for Project X Racing is round seven, the Grand Final of the 2015 Rotax Pro Tour that takes place at Ipswich, Queensland from October 2-4.
