Kiwi driver William Exton and co-driver Jack Johnson have claimed their maiden Monochrome GT4 Australia victory after producing a faultless drive in Race 1 at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin.
Starting from the front row in their Team Soutar Motorsport McLaren Artura, the pair converted strong qualifying pace into a breakthrough win, while fellow New Zealanders Chris White and Blake Dowdall endured mixed fortunes throughout the opening race of the weekend.
Exton narrowly missed pole position in qualifying, setting a best lap of 1:09.9585 to secure second on the grid, just 0.1375 seconds behind Team BRM’s Blake Purdie and Jobe Stewart in their Audi R8 LMS GT4.
Dowdall qualified 11th in the Miedecke Motorsport Ford Mustang he shares with Cooper Cutts after recording a best lap of 1:10.2470, while White and Daniel Frougas lined up 19th in the GWR Australia Toyota Supra EVO 2 after a difficult qualifying session.
When the lights went out under clear Darwin skies, Exton immediately challenged Purdie for the lead, the pair running side-by-side through Turn 1 as the field behind fanned out three-wide in the battle for position.
Purdie held onto the lead on corner exit, leaving Exton to defend from championship leader Tom Hayman in the opening laps.
Further back, Frougas made an impressive start, climbing five positions on the opening lap to move into 14th overall and 10th in the Silver Cup class. Dowdall slipped a couple of positions to 13th, just ahead of the recovering Supra.
Frougas’ progress was briefly halted after contact with Ryder Quinn’s BMW M4 GT4, with Quinn forcing the Toyota off the circuit. Quinn was later handed a five-second penalty for the incident, although Frougas had already lost two positions.
Dowdall’s race then took a frustrating turn when race control investigated his start for a possible procedure infringement. Despite fighting back to 11th overall and eighth in class, he was issued a drive-through penalty. After serving it immediately, the Mustang dropped to 24th overall and 13th in class.
As the race reached the compulsory pit stop window, Purdie handed over to Stewart, briefly promoting Exton to the race lead. Running just behind the Audi before the stops, Exton stayed out a little longer before pitting with a comfortable 6.2-second advantage.
Johnson took over the McLaren and rejoined still leading the race ahead of George Miedecke in the Miedecke Motorsport Mustang.
White also climbed aboard the GWR Australia Toyota for the second stint and quickly made an impact. After taking over in 13th overall and eighth in class, he steadily worked his way through the field to finish eighth overall, maintaining eighth in class after starting from 19th on the grid.
Cutts also mounted an impressive recovery after inheriting the Mustang in 24th place following Dowdall’s penalty. He gained nine positions during his stint to bring the car home 15th overall and 11th in class.
Out front, Johnson remained composed under pressure to seal a memorable first Monochrome GT4 Australia victory for both himself and Exton. The McLaren crossed the line 2.5 seconds clear of George Miedecke and Cameron Crick, while Sam Paley and Jack Wallis completed the podium in third.
It marked a deserved breakthrough for the young pairing, who combined strong qualifying speed, excellent race pace and a flawless pit stop to secure their maiden GT4 Australia victory.
Header Image: Team Soutar Motorsport
