Podium on Debut at Phillip Island

Sunday 6 April 2025

Arise Racing has kicked off the 2025 national season in style, leaving a strong impression at the opening round of the Radical Cup Australia, held at the iconic Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.  With a mix of weather conditions, a competitive grid and plenty of fresh talent, the team secured multiple podium finishes and valuable momentum for the season ahead. 

Rising rookie talent Ruairidh Avern showed consistent growth throughout the weekend.  Practice sessions didn’t go well firstly with a technical problem, and then with set up issues. Nethertheless he still qualified P6 on Saturday morning, lining himself up to challenge over the weekend.  

Races 1 and 2 in the Victorian sunshine went well, finishing P4 and P6 and amongst the leading XX models on the track.  With Race 3 came the rain, putting the different generation cars on more of an even footing.  Avern reacted accordingly, putting his wet weather driving skills on display after a lap one spin-off with some bold and downright audacious overtaking manoeuvres to finish P3 overall in the 50-minute endurance race. 

From the Coaching Corner, Supercars Driver and Arise Coach Macca Jones offered insight across the weekend: “The performance across the team was strong, and the environment stayed calm, even when chaos hit at the start of Race 3 with the rain!  Ruairi was a bit of a silent achiever, I felt he did a great job adapting to the car after some big changes and bounced back from a lap one mistake.  It was his first proper wet drive, and he handled it solidly.  Race 3 was a real highlight, Ruairi’s race engineer kept calm on the radio, we had a clear strategy and Ruairi pushed through the field brilliantly.  There’s a lot we can build on with him moving forward.”