The AU4 Championship delivered a thrilling display of speed and skill during qualifying and all three races of the Round 3 weekend at Shell V-Power Motorsport Park in South Australia, culminating in an action-packed final showdown that tested the entire field.
In the Gen2 qualifying sessions, Jensen Marold established himself as the driver to beat by sweeping both sets.
He set the initial benchmark in the first session with a time of 1:17.52, narrowly edging out New Zealand’s William Beck by a mere 0.12 seconds, with fellow Kiwi driver Marco Manson in third.
Marold dug deeper in the second qualifying session to improve his time by a tenth, while Manson found extra pace to claim second place, trailing by 0.2 seconds, with Beck in third.
The Gen1 qualifying sessions were equally captivating, dominated by Lewis Gotch. Gotch laid down a gauntlet in the first session with the fastest time, while Jackson Culver of New Zealand secured second place ahead of current championship leader Koby Wilson.
In the second session, Gotch cleared Wilson by over seven tenths, with Wilson edging out Culver by a microscopic 0.01 seconds.
Race 1 saw Marold lead from the pole position, but Manson was chasing hard and closed the gap to within five tenths by lap three.
A late dive and a massive moment saw Manson expertly save his car to keep second place, though it cost him several seconds.
He then slowly reeled the leader back in, capitalising as the Gen2 frontrunners caught the tail of the Gen1 traffic.
Beck and De’argo Stewart followed closely in third and fourth. Further back, Angus Bails, Brock Burton, Xavier Babbage-Hockey, and Lana Flack aggressively swapped positions in the main pack.
The race ran smoothly without any safety car interruptions, allowing Marold to take the victory ahead of Manson and Beck.
In the Gen1 category of the opening race, Culver and Gotch engaged in a fierce battle, swapping the lead multiple times with Wilson right on their gearboxes.
Ultimately, Gotch executed a final pass on Culver to hold the lead and claim his maiden AU4 victory, with Culver finishing second and Wilson third.
The intensity skyrocketed in Race 2 as Marold took the lead into Turn 1 with a blinding start, and he and Manson quickly gapped Stewart and the rest of the pack.
The race was neutralised when the Gen1 car of Rugby Mangan hit the wall on the main straight, requiring the Safety Car and a crane for extrication.
Racing resumed with just four minutes remaining on the clock. Manson attacked Marold but overshot his mark, only to pull off an amazing save and snatch the lead back on the inside line two turns later, starting a switchback battle for the lead.
The final lap delivered a spectacular drag race between Marold and Manson, who defended brilliantly to hold onto the lead and cross the line in first place.
Marold finished a close second, while Stewart knocked on his door right to the checkered flag to claim third.
In the Gen1 class, Gotch successfully fended off Culver and then Wilson to secure the class victory. The final race of the weekend brought even more excitement, this time in Gen1.
Wilson got a fantastic start to jump ahead of Culver and Gotch, but on lap four, Gotch passed Culver and started hunting Wilson.
Wilson received a warning flag for blocking, allowing Gotch to take the lead shortly after.
The three title contenders then put on an excellent display of close racing, trading positions until Gotch passed Wilson for the second time as Culver lay in wait.
The tension peaked when all three drivers entered a single corner side by side, resulting in front wing damage for Culver and bringing debutant Rixon into contention for a podium finish.
Wilson was left limping home with his damaged front wing dragging on the ground, while Gotch completed a perfect weekend to win his third race from three starts, with Culver securing second and Salvino claiming third.
In Gen2, Marold ran a clean race to take the victory, followed by Manson and a recovering Beck, who rectified his DNF in race two with a third-place finish.
The weekend’s results have shaken up the championship standings across both classes.
In the Gen2 category, Marold took the round victory with 72 points, finishing ahead of Manson on 62 and Stewart with 39.
In the Gen1 class, Gotch claimed the overall round win by scoring the maximum 79 points, followed by Culver on 55 and Salvino with 42.
The field now has a short break before the AU4 Championship returns to action for Round 4 at The Bend on the International circuit layout from 21-23 August.
Gen2 Championship Top 3 after Round 3
- Jensen Marold (197 points)
- Marco Manson (187 points)
- William Beck (87 points)
Gen1 Championship Top 3 after Round 3
- Lewis Gotch (179 points)
- Koby Wilson (177 points)
- Jackson Culver (168 points)
