Exton on the pace but Ransley impresses on one-off return
William Exton topped two of four unofficial test sessions today as the Toyota 86 Championship gets ready for the third round this weekend at the Euromarque Motorsport Park, Ruapuna.
Exton went fastest in the second and fourth sessions, though not all the drivers went out for the fourth session. Even so, fourth session best of 1 minute 38.756 seconds was the fastest time of the day.
Jackson Rooney was fastest in the first session ahead of Australian Lokie Bloxsom but in the drier second practice it was William topped the times ahead of Tom Bewley with Manfeild winner Hunter Robb also close to the front in fourth.
Bewley was there again in the third session, fastest of all with rivals Rooney in third and Robb down in seventh.
Christina Orr-West was strong throughout, running in the top ten and indeed the top five for most of the day with her best being third fastest in the first session of the day.
Another to catch the eye on a busy day of testing for the TR86 runners was an old friend of the championship, Jaden Ransley. A late entry for this round only – long time Toyota 86 competitor Jaden had a solid day at his home track.
Second in the championship in 2019, third in 2020, fourth in 2018 during fives seasons in the championship, he knows the Toyota 86 and the circuit like the back of his hand and he was quickly up to pace.
After settling in during the first session, he picked up his pace to go third fastest in the second session behind Exton and Bewley and then second behind Bewley in P3.
Robb has a narrow lead in the championship as the drivers head into the weekend. Official practice begins Friday before Saturday morning qualifying then three races over the weekend.
