Dominant Rooney clean sweeps at Hampton Downs

Jackson Rooney continued his dominance at the penultimate round of the Toyota 86 Championship, winning the final race to make it three from three.

Rooney led from lights to flag, beating Tom Bewley into first place. An intense start saw Rooney defend his position well.  Behind him, William Exton had to fight right from the word go to defend from continuous attacks from Hunter Robb who in turn had to fend off repeated attacks from an inspired Alice Buckley.

It gave Rooney maximum points for the weekend after a dominant performance. “It was good, I had a lot of pressure from behind, but we worked on the car overnight and that flicked a bit of a switch on performance and we were able to chip away from there,” he said afterwards. ”We had great race pace.”

A fine drive to second place after a tough weekend ensured Tom Bewley left the circuit as the championship leader, with one round to go at the Taupo International Motorsport Park Supercars weekend next month. After his run of great form, Exton’s third place in the race means he heads to the big finale second in the points.

Alice Buckley’s fifth place in the race was her best of the championship so far, and proved why she is such a hot prospect in saloon car racing currently. Not content with a comfortable fifth, she pressured Robb all the way to the flag.

There were some good performances further behind Alice in the top ten too. Hayden Bakkerus put in another strong drive for sixth while John Penny salvaged something from a frustrating weekend with a solid seventh.

Just behind him Thomas Mallard had what was his best result in the championship with eighth while Will Morton shone yet again with another top ten run to edge out Harry Townshend for ninth.

As has been the case in most seasons over the course of the Toyota 86 Championship history, the battle for the title will go down the last round. The Supercars stage at Taupo, with a likely full house of fans, will be the perfect platform for this season’s deserving champion to be crowned – whether its Bewley, Exton or Robb.

2023-2024 Toyota 86 Championship – Round 5 Hampton Downs – Race 3