Penny wins Manfeild Toyota 86 opener following Bewley post-race penalty

John Penny has backed up his strong qualifying performance to win the opening race of Round 2 of the Toyota 86 Championship at Manfeild after Tom Bewley copped a five-second post-race penalty for a jump start.

Penny withheld intense challenges from Hunter Robb and Jackson Rooney to cross the line second, 2.29 seconds behind Bewley. After Bewley’s penalty was applied, the pole-sitter was elevated to the win by 0.222 seconds over Robb, with Rooney completing the podium a further four-tenths behind

A strong drive from the championship-leading Bewley minimised his losses. He was classified fourth, slotting in ahead of an impressive Cormac Murphy, who withstood immense pressure from William Exton and Harry Townshend for fifth.

Exton came home sixth, ahead of Townshend, Saxon Sheehan, Justin Allen and hard-charger Lockie Bloxsom, who rounded out the top ten.

Christina Orr-West was the first of a four-strong female contingent home in 11th, topping Alice Buckley in 12th.

For Bewley, the race appeared to have won off the line, with a great launch into Turn 1 putting a gap on the field, but the start proved too good to be true.

Penny came under immediate pressure from second row-sitters Robb and Rooney, who also started strongly to challenge the defending Masters champion over the opening turns.

The field kept it tidy through Turn 1, with Noel Simpson doing well to maintain control, having run wide onto the grass.

With the battles unfolding behind, Bewley pulled clear over the following laps, his advantage fluctuating between one to two seconds.

Once news of the penalty came through, he put the hammer down, setting the fastest lap and extending his advantage.

He wasn’t able to pull enough of a gap to retain the win, however, with Penny holding off a mid-race challenge from Robb to come home for the win.

Penny – who promised before the start of the season to give the younger competitors a run for their money – was delighted to win.

“I knew early on that Tom might have a penalty but it wasn’t confirmed over the radio until a bit later so I did have to focus on keeping him in sight and not letting him get too much of a lead,” he said on the podium.

“Having said that I had Hunter filling my mirrors throughout so I had one eye on that too, but the car was great and I didn’t have to defend too hard.”

There was last corner drama for Alex Hawley and Summer Rintoule, who came together entering the final straight, with the Australian’s car turned into a half spin across the front of Hawley’s.

Remarkably, both prevented a more significant incident from unfolding and crossed the line 22nd and 23rd, albeit with minor damage.

The Toyota 86 Championship returns for two races on Sunday, the first at 11.47 am and the finale at 1.38 pm.

Sky Sport will have live coverage of the day’s action on channel 55 from 10.00 am.

Header Image: Toyota Gazoo Racing New Zealand (Bruce Jenkins)