On the pace at the Paperclip

Race Queensland is underway and Todd Hazelwood has taken Trans Am pole as Jayden Ojeda and Brendon Leitch were fast in the GTs.

All categories took on the “Paperclip” for the first time with the big ticket items the opening Porsche Sprint Challenge race and Trans Am qualifying.

Boosted by showing strong pace at The Bend, Hazelwood has enjoyed a perfect Friday.

After topping both practice 1 and 2, the TFH Racing driver pressed on to remain untouchable in qualifying.

Hazelwood took a maiden Trans Am pole with a 1:10.9383, which was a tenth clear of the rest of the field.

The #111 was the only driver in the 1m10s window with the next best Nathan Herne recording a 1:11.0603.

Herne showed no signs of discomfort on his first day since switching from Dodge Challenger panels to Ford Mustang panels to be 0.1220s off.

Racing Academy youngster Elliott Cleary also impressed to be third and also just over a tenth away.

Another three tenths further back was James Golding, who is well placed to gain ground on championship rival James Moffat, who could only manage ninth.

Edan Thornburrow and Jordan Boys completed the top six as the leading non Mustang was the Camaro of Elliott Barbour in seventh.

A tasty Trans Am opening race is in store at 11.40 AEST.

Jayden Ojeda was fast in the Mercedes. Image: Supplied

There is also plenty of hype surrounding the GT World Challenge Australia as just 0.0279s separated the leaders in the final practice session.

Leading the way were Leitch and Tim Miles with a 1:06.8525, which was just enough to edge out Will Brown and Brad Schumacher in an Audi 1-2.

There were also fine margins behind the Audis with the Declan Fraser/Peter Hackett Mercedes and Chaz Mostert/Liam Talbot Ferrari also just over a tenth away from the top pace.

Rounding out the top five in the ultra competitive hour-long practice was the sister Arise Racing Ferrari of Jaxon Evans and Elliott Schutte.

In the opening practice, Ojeda fired out of the blocks to put the #66 Tigani Motorsport Mercedes he is sharing with Paul Lucchitti on top.

Ojeda’s 1:06.9478 was enough to keep both of the Ferraris at bay by a tenth as the same top five in practice 2 also featured in practice 1.

In their first session in GT World Challenge Australia since Phillip Island Brenton Grove was sixth.

The two part qualifying begins at 9.20 AEST and the first of two hour long races is at 16.20 AEST concluding Saturday’s on track action.

There is also plenty of unknowns in the GT4 Australia Series as the Mustang held off a trio of Mercedes, but not by much.

Practice 1 was where the pace was with the top seven fastest times of the day taking place in that session.

The Ford Mustang GT4 was fast once again.

George Miedecke and Rylan Gray ended up on top thanks to a 1:12.9166. It proved just 0.0584s clear of Sam Brabham and Bailey Love.

Antonio Astuti and Rob Love showed impressive pace to be not far off as were Matt McCutcheon and Tony Quinn.

Completing the top five was the Ginetta of Jarrod Hughes and Mark Cotterell.

They ended up falling just 0.0017s short of topping practice 2 which went to McCutcheon with a 1:13.9173.

The GT4s are qualifying at 7.40 AEST before the first one-hour race at 12.20.

A Grove Racing protege Oscar Targett continued his domination of the Porsche Sprint Challenge after cleaning up the opening race.

Despite Ayrton Hodson getting a better jump and leading the first two laps, Targett eventually had his man.

After taking the lead on Lap 3, Targett was never troubled and cruised to a commanding 6s win.

It was a much closer fight for third however with less than 2s covering positions 3-8.

After also being passed by Brock Gilchrist, Hudson had to get his elbows out to retain a podium place and did so by just four tenths with Ryan Suhle and Clay Osborne separated by 0.0073s behind.

The likes of Bradley Carr, Stephen Moylan and Scott Taylor all did not complete a lap.

Th next race is at 11.05 AEST.

Honda and Wall Racing showed ominous form by sweeping both TCR Australia practice sessions via Tony D’Alberto.

D’Alberto was a cut above the rest, backing up his morning effort with another fine run in Practice 2 in warmer conditions.

After Brad Harris ensured it was a Wall Racing 1-2 in Practice 1, the 2022 champion enjoyed a three tenth advantage with a 1:13.8261 in the final session before qualifying takes place.

Defending champion Josh Buchan won a tight battle for second in his Hyundai.

He was more than three tenths adrift of the leader but only 0.08s ahead of Harris, while Aaron Cameron and Dylan O’Keeffe completed the top five.

The TCRs go qualifying at 8.45 AEST and the opening race is at 14.05.

There were three sessions for the Australian Formula Open Series drives to get acclimatised with the “Paperclip”.

On combined times Ryan Macmillan emerged well clear of the rest with a 1:04.8981.

This was two tenths clear of runner-up Miles Bromley, who was the only one remotely near the leader as Kyle Evans was eight tenths adrift.

Qualifying is at 8.20 which sets the grid for the 13.30 opener.

The TGRA Scholarship Series was back and there was no catching Hayden Hume.

His 1:24.1442 was four tenths clear of Ryan Tomsett and Ben Stewart with Practice 1 where the ultimate pace was.

Hume went back to back in practice 2 where times were a full second slower but his margin to Alice Buckley was trimmed down to just a tenth.

The TGRA Scholarship Series sparks Saturday proceedings with qualifying at the early time of 7.15 AEST before the opening race at 10.35.

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