Kyojo Cup – Fuji Speedway

Joanne Ciconte has made history has the first non-Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) backed driver and first “gaijin” (foreigner) to achieve a podium finish in the Kyojo Cup. The young Victorian qualified P2 with 1:43.842, just two tenths behind the pole sitter, Riona Tomishita.

Ciconte was able to maintain her P2 qualifying position for both the 10 lap Sprint Race and 15 lap Final Race, finishing with two second place podiums and 25 points to leave the opening weekend of the all-women series in second place outright behind Tomishita.

“[It was a] strong way to open the season,” Cictone said.

“New season, new style of racing, and a lot to take in — but really happy with how quickly we adapted and put it together.

“Huge credit to the team for the effort and support all the way through.”

Another Australian representative, Paige Raddatz, also made her debut in the Kyojo Cup on the weekend after recently transitioning from Karting and competing in the Indian F4 Championship.

The 21-year-old began her campaign with a P15 in qualifying with a time of 1:44.699. In the Sprint Race, Raddatz made up two places to P12, but a five second penalty for a jump start moved the Australian down to P14. Lining up for the Final Race, the Sydneysider finished in P15, ultimately finishing the weekend in 14th outright.

Kjoyo Cup will return to Fuji Speedway for round 2 on 18-19 July.

Porsche Carrera Cup Asia – Fuji Speedway

Seth Gilmore continued his campaign in Porsche Carrera Cup Asia with the fourth event of the series, held at Fuji Speedway in Japan. In Race 1 the Porsche Centre Adelaide driver finished in P10 and P14 in Race 2, scoring 8 points to sit 12th in the outright standings 25.5 points behind Roy Tang of Singapore with 29 points.

Porsche Carrera Cup Asia will take a small break before heading to Bangsaen Street Circuit in Chonburi, Thailand on 4-5 July.

GT World Challenge America – Sebring International Raceway

Tom Sargent leads the Pro-Am Cup in GT World Challenge America after a superb weekend of results. The 22-year-old alongside Kyle Washington in the #32 Porsche 911 GT3-R (992) EVO collected a P1 in class and fifth outright at the third round of the Championship.

Sargent and Washington had a less than ideal qualifying result of P11 and sixth in the Pro-Am class, however, the duo gained maximum points and fastest lap in the 83 lap race.

This solid weekend of racing not only places Sargent and Washington in the Pro-Am Cup lead, but solidifies Sargent’s top spot in the SRO GT Academy with 72 points ahead of Riley Dickinson with 46 points. The winner of the SRO GT Academy will compete in the 2027 24 Hours of Spa.

GT World Challenge America will make it’s next move to Road Atlanta on 12-14 June.

FIA World Endurance Championship – 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

Yasser Shahin has continued an impressive run of form, securing another podium finish in the LMGT3 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship, this time at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

Shahin, alongside teammates Richard Lietz and Riccardo Pera, qualified P12 in the LMGT3 class ahead of the six hour race. Shahin was the first of the trio in the drivers seat and made a great recovery after an early incident with #38 Team Jota Cadillac Hypercar.

Steady performance allowed the #92 The Bend Manthey team to gain momentum throughout the race, ultimately crossing the line in P3, just 3.422 seconds off the winners, #10 Garage 59 McLaren of Tom Fleming, Marvin Kirchhofer and Antares Au.

Shahin, Lietz and Pera now lead the FIA Endurance Trophy LMGT3 with 30 points ahead of #10 Garage 59 and #69 Team WRT.

The FIA World Endurance Championship heads to the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans on 11-13 June.

NTT IndyCar Series – Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Will Power’s weekend at the Sonsio Grand Prix saw him qualify P25 as he struggled to find pace. Power put in an impressive performance in the race, avoiding an incident on Lap 1, pitting early and and eventually leading the race for 15 laps. However, despite the impressive fuel-saving performance and a possibility of a higher finish, the Andretti Global driver was handed a drive-through penalty for an improper pit exit, resulting in P13 and 18 points.

The Queenslander sits in P14 outright in the standings with 107 points behind Alexander Rossi (110) and Marcus Ericsson (112) in 13th and 12th respectively. Alex Palou currently leads the Series with 237 points.

The NTT IndyCar Series will now prepare for the iconic 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 on 24 May.

Indy NXT – Indianapolis Motor Speedway

It was a mixed weekend of results at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the three Australian Indy NXT representatives of Lochie Hughes, Jack Beeton and Nicolas Stati.

In the first race of the weekend it was Lochie Hughes who enjoyed a podium finish benefitting from the leader, Alessandro de Tullio locking up the first turn of the race. This mistake allowed Hughes to move to the front of the pack and lead the race until the tough, wet conditions in the latter stages allowed Enzo Fittipaldi to pass Hughes before a yellow flag allowed no further overtaking. Meanwhile, Jack Beeton was able to make up plenty of positions in the first lap, eventually sitting in P7, before being taken out early and left a lap behind to finish in P21. Nicolas Stati worked hard in the wet first race starting near the back of the field to eventually finish P14.

The second race showed more consistent conditions with Hughes battling hard with the top five to narrowly miss out on a podium, finishing in P4. Beeton, in his rookie season demonstrated his pace after an incident with Jack Garcia on Lap 11 which saw the HMD Motorsports driver slip back to P20 before putting in the work to secure a P13 finish. Meanwhile, Stati endured a recovery drive in the final race after having to pit with a puncture from an early incident with Niels Koolen. The Western Australian worked hard from the bottom of the field to finish in P18.

The Indy NXT Series will head to the Detroit Grand Prix on 31 May.

British F4 Championship – Brands Hatch Indy

George Proudford-Nalder showed plenty of pace throughout the weekend at Brands Hatch. Proudford-Nalder started in the eighth row of the grid for the first race of the weekend to see the young Australian gain positions early on and continued to show skill after a restart following a red flag for a finish in P10.

The Virtousi Racing driver demonstrated impressive pace in the the reverse grid Race 2, gaining seven positions in the first few laps to finish P13. Unlike the first couple of races, the final race was wet and windy, with plenty of drivers starting in the pits and fighting the conditions throughout. Proudford-Nalder finished the final race in P27 and finished the weekend 18th outright with 13 points.

The British F4 Championship will move to Snetterton (300) on 23-24 May.