Bethune from Allen in Hampton Downs qualifying

Man of the moment Josh Bethune continued his great form in the Bridgestone GR86 Championship with a scintillating lap in qualifying for the fifth round at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park this morning.

Right on the sweet spot on his first flying lap he set two purple sectors to pip Justin Allen and prove he’s the man to beat in the championship currently. He will start the afternoon’s first race of the weekend from pole position.

Josh - in his Right Karts By M2 Competition entry - was the first to unleash a quick lap with a 1 minute 14.080 on his first effort.  Allen – back in his regular car after a major post-Highlands rebuild – was only four hundredths of a second behind.  

On an ever warming track, they would prove to be the best efforts of the 20 minute session, despite the top 22 cars in the 23 car field being covered by just nine tenths of a second.

In the early stages the championship’s top three were in the top ten but only Hugo Allan was able to make the most of a third flying lap and move onto the second row for the afternoon’s race.

Championship leader Hayden Bakkerus was further back in seventh, and Chris White - who had set the pace during Friday testing – was two places down the order in ninth . 

Cooper Barnes and Harry Townshend were on the pace in qualifying too, pushing themselves into third and fourth inside the first five minutes before Allan bagged his quick lap. They ended the session in third and fifth respectively.

Zach Blincoe was another to put his best time in early in the session and took an outside third row starting position for the first race, ahead of Bakkerus, the ever-improving Mason Potter in eighth, White in ninth and Jett Murray in tenth.

Series debutants Mac Templeton and Jack Westbury – the latter a regular competitor in the Australian GR86 series - did well to clock the 12^th and 14^th best times.

2024-2025 Bridgestone GR86 Championship – Round 5 Hampton Downs Qualifying