Daniel Jilisen and Zoe Woods have combined at TekworkX Motorsport to win in Australian Production Cars despite being hampered by some mechanical faults. Nathan Sticklen continued his development in Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge with a third place and a runner up finish across the weekend.

Jilisen made his first start since 2021 and was immediately on the pace with the fastest lap of the day in Class C during Friday practice. In qualifying, Woods put the car on provisional pole through the first half of the session before Jilisen hopped in for the final flying laps, solidifying the team’s second Production Car pole of the year as lap times improved.

A minor discrepancy in post-qualifying scrutineering saw the team relegated to the back of the grid for race one. Woods started the one-hour race and moved up to second place before a driver swap at the halfway mark. The speedy work of the TekworkX Motorsport crew in the compulsory ‘tyre change’ (tyre’s must be removed and placed on the ground, before being refitted) saw the team gain over five seconds in the pit stop. Jilisen was piling the pressure on the Class leader and searching for a clean way past when the intercooler pipe failed, forcing Jilisen to limp home in second.

For race two the team again elected to start Woods with Jilisen tasked with bringing the car to the chequered flag. Woods enjoyed one of her best stints of the year, trading lap times with the class leader and running within half a second of each other on the racetrack. Another speedy pit stop saw the Hyundai pairing jump into the class lead through the pit window. As the race unfolded and the chequered flag flew, Jilisen and Woods crossed the line in fifth outright in addition to the class win.

Unfortunately, during preparations for race three, the turbo picked up a fault and the car was ruled out for the remainder of the weekend.

In Sprint Challenge Sticklen qualified the car in second place for Class B with a series of late improvements in the session. Race one saw its fair share of chaos, with Nathan picking up some damage and coming home in third. Race two was the weekend’s 45-minute endurance cup race and Sticklen was battling for what eventuated to the class win for most of the race, before finishing in second place. An opportunity to gain more wet weather experience was scuppered as race three of the weekend was cancelled with too much water on the circuit.

The next round for both Australian Production Cars and Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge will be at the Bathurst International from November 4-6. TekworkX Motorsport are in action for the second weekend in a row when Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup concludes its championship from October 28-30 at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.

Quotes
Daniel Jilisen
“It was great to get back in the seat and go racing again, especially to do it with Zoe,” said Jilisen.

“It was the first time I’ve ever driven a front wheel car as well, and I really enjoyed racing around The Bend it’s a fantastic track.

“After race two we pulled the gearbox out, which involved taking almost the whole front end apart, to replace the clutch which broke in race two a couple laps from the end. We put it all back together and then the turbo let go so that was really disappointing.”

Zoe Woods
“Overall, we had a good weekend even if it was a bit challenging at times,” said Woods.

“The Bend is such a cool track and I found myself improving with new PB’s in every session. It was great fun charging up to second in the first race and I was fighting for the lead in race two which was really cool.

“The team worked so hard to get the car ready and were at the track to all hours getting it prepared but, in the end, they couldn’t have done anything different. Big thanks to the team for their hard work this weekend and giving us a fast car. Thank you to Luke and Max as well for the constant feedback helping me to improve.”

Nathan Sticklen
“I absolutely loved racing here this weekend,” said Sticklen.

“The team had some feedback for me after race one along the lines of being more present in the car and being more aggressive. I fell into the trap of following the cars in front and not taking my own racing line.

“For race two I took that on board and put some more pressure on the people I was racing, I gained a lot of experience and tried some things that worked and others that didn’t.

“The big takeaway from the weekend though is I believe I’m not going to be on a provisional license after this round, as that’s been signed off. Really happy and looking forward to the next round in Bathurst.”