QLD Highlights Strong Pace

Ruairi showed genuine front-running pace at Queensland Raceway over the weekend, taking positive signs from a challenging three-race Round 3 of the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge despite results that didn't fully reflect his speed and racecraft.

A disrupted qualifying session compromised by traffic and a red flag at a critical moment left Ruairi starting Race 1 from P10. He made up two places early before contact from behind triggered a spin that dropped him to last, losing over 35 seconds to the leaders in an instant. What followed was one of the drives of the weekend: matching the lap times of the top-six runners from 20th and last, taking five on-track passes in four laps following a mid-race safety car, and crossing the line in P10 just 11 seconds off the win. Post-race penalties for two other drivers subsequently promoted him to P8.

Race 2 on Saturday morning was run in treacherous wet conditions with the field starting behind the safety car and two separate safety car periods accounting for much of the session. Ruairi picked off several cars in the limited racing available to finish P6.

The weekend concluded with the 45-minute Jim Richards Enduro, where Ruairi delivered a consistent, error-free performance across the full distance to bring the car home in P7.

Ruairi commented: "We have identified a couple of technical areas for more development and, with Sonic's guidance, that becomes my focus heading into the next round at the Townsville 500 street circuit next month."