Kiwi driver Ayrton Hodson showed grit, racecraft, and consistency across four intense races at Round 4 of the TA2 Australia Series at Queensland Raceway during the popular 2 Days of Thunder event.
Competing under the Ashley Jarvis Racing banner, Hodson came away with solid points and a pair of top-five finishes, continuing to build momentum in his rookie season in the fiercely competitive TA2 field.
Qualifying 1:
Hodson opened his weekend by qualifying sixth in the first timed session, sitting 0.928 seconds off pole-sitter Jarrod Hughes. Impressively, rookie Alice Buckley slotted into second, continuing her sensational debut after leading combined practice.
Hodson’s teammate Lachlan Evennett also showed promise, qualifying 12th, three-tenths back from Hodson.
Race 1:
The opening 25-minute race kicked off under overcast skies. Hodson lost ground early, slipping to seventh before clawing back a spot from Diesel Thomas and setting off in pursuit of Buckley. A pair of gravel-trap incidents brought out the safety car, neutralising the field.
Hodson made the most of the restart, diving past Josh Thomas to move into fifth, where he would ultimately finish, 3.792s off the win, as Hughes took the chequered flag ahead of Ben Gomersall and Tom Davies.
Buckley finished a strong fourth, with Hodson rounding out the top five in what was a clean and measured drive. Evennett joined Hodson in the top ten, giving Ashley Jarvis Racing a strong start to the weekend with a double top-ten finish.
Race 2:
Starting P5 for Race 2, Hodson found himself in a crowded three-wide moment at Turn 1, losing ground to drop to seventh. Despite intense pressure from behind, he created breathing room between himself and Webster and then locked into a battle with Buckley as she recovered from an early drop down the order.
Buckley got past briefly, but Hodson reclaimed the position with a tidy move. As the laps ticked down, he closed on Diesel Thomas, maintaining a strong pace as the top three pulled away up front. Hughes took another win, with Davies and Gomersall completing the podium. Hodson brought it home in seventh, narrowly ahead of Buckley.
Day 2, Qualifying 2:
Sunday morning saw a historic moment for the series as Buckley claimed pole position, the first female driver to do so in the TA2 Australia Series. Hodson qualified seventh, again within striking distance of the lead pack for Race 3.
Race 3:
While fans missed the opening laps due to a livestream issue, the drama was soon back on display. After a safety car reset, Hodson sat sixth but quickly surged forward, passing Josh Thomas and then Gomersall to move into third, showing excellent race pace and calculated aggression.
Gomersall later made contact with another car, spinning off into the infield, while Hodson was momentarily shuffled back to fifth after a late-race bump-and-run by the Thomas brothers.
Despite the setback, it was a punchy drive from the Kiwi, who again finished fifth, this time just over two seconds off the win.
Race 4:
Starting sixth for the final race, Hodson held position early and eyed redemption after being punted down the order in Race 3. A race of attrition unfolded with multiple retirements, including Tom Davies and Robbie Farr.
Hodson battled hard with Gomersall, with light contact sending the Kiwi wide and dropping him to sixth, where he would finish.
Out front, Buckley delivered a standout performance, holding on with a deflating tyre to secure her second win of the weekend in a dramatic finish ahead of Diesel and Josh Thomas.
Weekend Overview:
With finishes of P5, P7, P5, and P6, Hodson banked a valuable haul of points and continued to show growth as a consistent front-half runner. His best performance came in Race 3, where he charged through to third on raw pace and challenged some of the top names in the series.
The Kiwi now looks ahead to Round 5, a two-driver feature round, which returns to Queensland Raceway from August 15–17. With plenty of positives to take from Round 4, Hodson and the Ashley Jarvis Racing team will no doubt be aiming for another step forward in their TA2 campaign.
Header Image: Amelia Foss
