16-year-old Josh Haynes has taken victory in the season-ending Australian Pulsar Racing Association (APRA) one-hour endurance race in Round 2 of the Wakefield Park Motor Race Series on the weekend, defeating several title contenders in the process.
After qualifying second behind Matt Boylan in the Top-10 Shootout, Haynes led the early stages but fell back to fourth during the mid-race compulsory pit stop cycle.
However, Haynes’ abundance of raw speed enabled him to fight back to the front with 10 minutes remaining and he emerged victorious ahead of Dimitri Agathos.
Agathos’ weekend started slowly, but his FullGas Racing team gradually improved his Pulsar and he was able to race among the lead pack in the enduro. Third place went to Josh Craig, who sealed his second-consecutive APRA title.
The driver with an axe to grind was Boylan, who was battling with Haynes for the lead in the race’s closing stages, only to suffer terminal damage due to a clash with a backmarker; the retirement was a costly one, Boylan surrendering a top-three position in the series standings.
The over-subscribed field of Pulsars saw a “consolation” race for those who did not make it into the main show; this race was won by Matthew Leenman, ahead of Jamie Cannellis and Harrison Inwood.
In addition to the Sunday endurance races, the Pulsars also staged four 30-minute sprints on Saturday; these were won by Thomas Khouri, Josh Haynes, Brianna Wilson and Josh Craig.
The Series X3 NSW (Hyundai Excel) category also employed an endurance format for their season finale, with a one-hour race held each day.
In Saturday’s race, Sam Christison led the early laps but a slow compulsory pit stop handed the lead and ultimately the win to Wil Longmore; the girlfriend/boyfriend entry of Jess Martin/Tim Colombrita finished third.
Christison and his co-driver Justin Ruggier redeemed themselves in Race 2, leading all bar one lap on their way to a comprehensive 18-second victory over Bailey Sweeney and Formula Ford racer Cody Burcher.
The other two categories on the program were Stock Cars and Legend Cars, both running sprint formats.
Stephen Chilby continued his exceptional run of recent form in the Stock Cars by winning all four races. Last year’s champion Brett Mitchell was second in the first three heats, but chalked up a DNF in the final, allowing Danny Burgess to claim the runner-up spot ahead of Robert Marchese.
In the Legend Cars, it was reigning champion Lachlan Ward who won all five races, including Race 3 which featured a reverse-grid starting order.
Behind Ward, the order was jumbled quite significantly with Shane Tate, Josh Hourigan and Mia Bolton all achieving second-place finishes across the races. For Bolton, it was a strong recovery after an engine failure ruled her out of proceedings on Saturday.
