McLeod soars from last to first
By Thomas Miles
Date posted: 22 February 2025
Cameron McLeod has followed the footsteps of his father by going from last to first in an ultra-tight first Super2 qualifying of the year.
With three minutes to go McLeod sat last 23rd and last, only to shoot the #92 Kelly Racing Mustang to the top of the timesheets.
His 1:31.8066 was just enough to deny rookie Ayrton Hodson as just 0.08s covered the top four that also included Rylan Gray and Jobe Stewart.
Not only was it McLeod’s first pole at Super2 level, it was an emotional moment for many reasons for the family.
The very first driver to take Super2 pole at Sydney Motorsport Park was Cameron’s father Ryan with a Kmart Racing Holden VS Commodore.
Having been a driver that dominated Super3 qualifying sessions, it was a moment the Kelly Racing youngster had been waiting for and he just waited for the most fitting moment.
Zach Bates will start his title defence from fifth on the grid ahead of Triple Eight’s Jackson Walls.
At the start of the intense 20-minute session, Lockie Dalton set the fastest first sector but Stewart was on fire for the rest of the lap and edged him out by 0.0643s.
Burcher was the first to knock off the Image Racing driver, going a tenth clear on his second push lap.
But the #36 Commodore did not stay on top for too long, with both the Triple Eight teammates sneaking clear led by Walls with a 1:32.1564.
Amazingly when the Triple Eight teammates were split by reigning champion Bates, just 0.0516s covered the top four and less than half a second across the top 12.
This left the fight for pole anyone’s guess as all 23 cars dived into the lane at the halfway mark.
When cars returned to the track the session went into a new phase with Gray bolting out of the blocks.
The Tickford youngster became the first driver of the weekend to record a 1m31s lap.
He set a scorching second sector, but he was not the only one pushing hard.
Stewart came within 0.02s of the Tickford driver, while Hobson stunned all once again.
He eclipsed Gray by 0.0276s with a rapid 1:31.8481 with five minutes left in the session.
Hobson kept on pushing, going purple in the first sector of his next push lap, while Burcher did the same.
Sadly for the Eggleston Motorsport driver, a costly kerb strike at the penultimate corner denied him the lap.
With Hobson and Gray spending the final three minutes in the lane, McLeod stole the show.
Being one of the last drivers on a fresh set, the Kelly Racing youngster hit all of his marks to sneak 0.0395s clear of the field.
Bates and Walls also made late moves to be fifth and sixth respectively.
The stage is set for an interesting opening Super2 race of the year with no clear winner at 17.55 AEDT tonight.
Image: DMAC Photography
Super2 Round 1 Race 1 Qualifying results
2025 Sydney 500
Practice 1: A. De Pasquale 1:30.0226 2: D. Reynolds +0.4742 3: J. Courtney +0.5039
Qualifying 1: C. Waters 1:28.6968 2: B. Feeney +0.2544 3: M. Payne +0.4559
Race 1: C. Waters 2: C. Mostert 3: T. Randle
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