TekworkX Motorsport enjoyed their strongest weekend of racing to date in GT4 Australia, headlined by Zoe Woods and Daniel Jilesen’s historic Pro-Am class win and outright podium on Saturday.

The weekend was also boosted by a class podium for Ryder Quinn and Steve Jakic, while 16-year-old Lachlan Evennett impressed on debut alongside Rob Woods.

In a weekend of ever changing conditions, the squad were faced with a huge level of unpredictability leading in to Friday night’s dual qualifying sessions. A large band of rain arrived just in time for Qualifying 1 with Quinn, Evennett and Zoe Woods sent out to set the grid for Race 1.

Quinn laid down a remarkable lap time to claim the outright pole position by an impressive seven tenths of a second. Evennett was also sensational, driving at night for the first time and with no wet weather GT4 experience, the rookie blitzed his way on to the front row of the grid. Zoe Woods qualified 15^th, which set up an incredible drive through the field on Saturday.

In Qualifying 2, Jilesen earned eighth on the grid for Sunday’s race in his first wet GT4 outing ahead of Rob Woods in an impressive ninth on debut in the category and Jakic in 12^th.

Saturday’s race played out across 60 minutes of constantly changing conditions, providing an extremely difficult race to navigate. The #210 entry of Zoe Woods and Jilesen never faltered though, as they steadily rose through the order from 15^th to cross the line in third place outright and first in Pro-Am.

The result earns Woods her place in the GT4 Australia record books as the first female to earn an outright podium and the first to take a class victory.

Quinn and Jakic combined for their fifth Pro-Am podium of the season, coming home in third place, just missing the overall podium in fifth overall and setting the GT4 lap record along the way. Evennett and Woods combined to take a strong sixth place on debut and fourth in class.

The second race of the weekend was set to drastically different conditions, with heat the major factor on a hot Sydney Sunday. With seventh outright, Quinn and Jakic were the first BMW to the line and fourth overall in Pro-Am. The two TekworkX Porsches soon followed, with ninth overall for Rob Woods/Evennett. It was 11^th for Zoe Woods and Jilesen, who were handicapped with compensation time in their pitstop following Saturday’s success.

TekworkX Motorsport are back in action this week for the final round of the TGRA GR Cup and the penultimate round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Championship.

Quotes:

Zoe Woods
“We didn’t really have two sessions the same to be honest. There were quite a few different weather conditions, it felt a bit like Melbourne to be honest.

“Qualifying 15^th for Saturday’s was quite difficult after being in the top 10 through practice, but to get back to third overall and first in class was unbelievable. It’s a really big achievement, and to be the first female that’s done it is massive.

“I’m loving the new Porsche, and it was great to have Jilly with me as well. He’s usually working on the car, which didn’t stop this weekend, so it was really special to share that moment with him.”

Ryder Quinn

“It was a good weekend from the start, practice we were quick and in qualifying we poled it which was nice. We were super quick in Saturday’s race, but we were carrying the success ballast from last weekend which left us P3 in class.

“On Sunday we just missed out on the podium in fourth, which was probably a bit disappointing. There’s one more round left, and who knows what could happen.”

Lachlan Evennett
“It was a really good weekend, I think I learnt so much about the cars and the category. Just really competitive, really good drivers I’m racing against. I really appreciate the opportunity that TekworkX has given me to come in this weekend and race, I had a great time.”

Rob Woods
“It was good to have young Lachy in the car. There’s nothing like an old bloke like me driving with a 16-year-old and he’s teaching me how to do it. I really enjoyed it, a great weekend for the team.

“Lachy has a bright future, we look forward to watching him and following him as he progresses through his racing career.”