New Zealander Ben Stewart won the opening Toyota 86 Scholarship Series race at Queensland Raceway on Saturday afternoon.
Stewart led home Alice Buckley, who featured in New Zealand’s Toyota 86 Championship last summer, by 2.5 seconds, with Max Geoghegan completing the podium.
Having gone third fastest in Friday’s opening practice and seventh in Practice 2, Stewart was pipped by Australian Hayden Hume in qualifying, with just 0.0553 seconds separating the lead two. Buckley and Geoghegan completed the second row.
Stewart got the better of the starts to lead Hume into Turn 1, taking the position he would hold until the chequered flag. Geoghegan did work past the Kiwi and looked to have the lead at one point but was forced to return the position as the move was made as a Safety Car was called.
Hume would ultimately drop to fourth and was classified eighth at the chequered flag after incurring a five-second penalty for a Safety Car restart infringement.
That elevated Jack Wood to fourth, Ryan Tomsett to fifth, Ben Gomersall to sixth and Lachlan Evennett to seventh.
Stewart is running double duties for 99 Motorsport over the weekend, also competing in TCR Australia in an Audi RS3 TCR.
He qualified 12th for the opener and finished 12th in the race, which Supercars co-driver Toby D’Alberto won.
The Toyota 86 Scholarship Series opens Sunday’s proceedings at 9.00 am NZST for the second of three 20-minute races before Race 2 of TCR Australia at 3.35 pm.
Stewart’s weekend finishes with the final Toyota 86 race at 4.25 pm before jumping in the Audi for the final TCR race immediately after.
Further viewing information and times can be found in the Velocity News Motorsport Diary.
