Jackson Rooney returned to New Zealand from his international racing debut with a piece of silverware following a third-place finish in the Pro-AM class of the opening GT4 Australia race at The Bend.
The Tony Quinn Foundation Ambassador partnered with Quinn himself for the event, sharing the Game Over Mercedes-AMG GT4 for two one-hour races.
Quinn and Rooney finished third in class and tenth overall in Race 1 before a fifth-placed, 15th overall result in Race 2 after serving a drive-through penalty for a pit lane infringement.
“It was definitely challenging,” Rooney told Velocity News.
“The weather wasn’t really playing its part when it started off, and it was raining quite heavily. My first time ever in the car was with the weather, which definitely made it tricky, but we made good progress with the two practice runs we had.
“Qualifying was my first time in the car on slick tyres and dry track. I spent the time just building up to it and getting quicker and quicker.
“In the race, we got third in our class, which was a pretty good first crack. We got a drive-through penalty in the second race as our pit stop was three seconds too short, which was pretty gutting.
“I wasn’t really expecting a podium. I was progressing and building up to it, and I was not trying to go out there in the first run, be a hero and cause any damage. It was cool to bring that home and bring a trophy back to New Zealand, too.”
The race in Australia was not only Rooney’s first time competing in a car outside New Zealand but also his first in GT4 machinery. He previously competed in the Toyota 86 Championship, winning five out of the final six races, including two in front of a sell-out crowd at the ITM Taupo Super400.
“It was quite a big step,” he said. “It was good to go out there and have a crack. It was quite a bit different, though, with the power, traction, and ABS you need to change while you’re out there. There’s brake bias and another one thousand buttons you’ve got to be looking at and trying to find at the same time.
“Overall, it was a really cool experience, and I loved every moment, especially doing it with Tony. It was amazing.”
Rooney was back to work on Tuesday and begins preparing for a Supercars test with Red Bull Ampol Racing, which came as a prize from the Tony Quinn Foundation for his performances in the Toyota 86 Championship.
“I’m just going to focus on prepping for that, with what I can because that’s another pretty big jump, so I want to be as well prepared for that as I can,” he added.
“I’ll try and get some more drives in some GTs and learn a bit more about that, too.”
It’s expected Rooney will return to Australia for his test in July.
Header Image: Jackson Rooney Motorsport
