Tony Quinn Foundation

It wasn’t the end to the Supercars Sprint Cup Tony Quinn Foundation Ambassador Ryan Wood would have been hoping for, with the Kiwi forced to work his way forward from outside the Top 10 in all three races at Queensland Raceway. Despite the challenging weekend, Ryan still came away with some valuable points towards his Finals hopes. Let’s take a look at how it all unfolded.

Heading into the weekend, Ryan was focused on banking as many points as possible before the Endurance Cup got underway. And with a return to a circuit where he had shown great form last season, expectations were high for another competitive showing.

Ryan’s first opportunity to get a feel for the #2 Walkinshaw TWG Racing Toyota Supra came during Friday afternoon’s back-to-back 30-minute Practice sessions. The opening session proved tricky, with Ryan spending much of the running outside the Top 10 as he looked to find more speed around the Ipswich circuit.

A best lap of 1:10.132 would eventually leave him 17th, although such was the competitiveness of the field, he remained within half a second of the fastest time.

Following a brief break, the field returned for Practice 2, where there were some encouraging signs early. Ryan jumped inside the Top 10 with a 1:10.084 and sat sixth when Aaron Seton became beached, bringing out a brief Red Flag.

Once running resumed, Ryan lowered his time to a 1:09.879 before a mistake at the final corner forced him to abandon what was shaping up to be another improvement. One final Qualifying simulation followed, with a 1:09.319 enough to finish 10th and round out Friday with some progress, though there was still more to find overnight.

Saturday kicked off with back-to-back Qualifying sessions to determine the grids for the day’s two 39-lap Sprints, beginning on the Soft Tyre.

With dark clouds lingering overhead, conditions looked quick, and Ryan wasted little time getting up to speed. A 1:08.940 put him third on his opening lap before he improved to a 1:08.678, leaving the #2 fifth after the opening runs and inside the Top 10 required to progress.

Ryan found more time during his final run, initially jumping to fourth with a 1:08.595. Unfortunately, a mistake through the middle sector on his last lap prevented any further improvement just as the times began tumbling around him, dropping him to 13th and ending his hopes of progressing to Part 2.

There wasn’t long to dwell on the disappointment, with the field soon returning for the second Qualifying session, this time on the Super Soft Tyre.

Unfortunately, things wouldn’t get any easier. Ryan and the team elected to abort their opening run, leaving him without a representative time heading into the final minutes. Then, just as he returned to the circuit, rain began to fall and made an already difficult situation even tougher.

A big moment into Turn 4 forced Ryan to abandon his first attempt, leaving him with just one lap to put a time on the board. A 1:09.086 moved him into 18th, but it wasn’t enough to challenge the Top 10 and left plenty of work to do across Saturday afternoon.

First up was the opening 39-lap race, with Ryan starting 13th and looking to quickly make his way forward. A busy opening few corners initially shuffled him back to 15th, but by the time the field crossed the control line, he had already recovered to his starting position.

Ryan was on the attack from there, making a big move on Andre Heimgartner into Turn 3 on the following lap to grab 12th. Once he caught James Golding and Aaron Cameron, the #2 pulled off a mega double move to clear both and break into the Top 10 after only six laps.

Next in his sights was Thomas Randle. Ryan gradually closed onto the Tickford Mustang before heading to pit lane at the end of Lap 14, looking to use the undercut to continue his charge.

The strategy worked perfectly. When Randle eventually stopped on Lap 23, he rejoined around four seconds behind Ryan, leaving the Kiwi effectively ninth and only a couple of seconds from Cameron Waters ahead.

Ryan initially began eating into the margin to Waters before the gap eventually stabilised. Behind, Randle began closing on much fresher tyres, though the #2 held firm to keep the Mustang at bay and cross the line ninth, completing a solid recovery from 13th on the grid.

There was still one more 39-lap Sprint to come on Saturday, this time on the Super Soft Tyre and with Ryan facing a much tougher assignment from 18th.

A great opening lap quickly made the task a little easier, with Ryan gaining four places to climb to 14th. Aaron Cameron was next to fall on Lap 3, followed by Jack Le Brocq two laps later as the #2 continued charging towards the Top 10.

That brought Ryan onto the back of Thomas Randle, where he remained until the pit cycle. Once again, the team went aggressive with the strategy, bringing Ryan in on Lap 14 in another attempt to jump the Mustang.

A mega out-lap did exactly that. Randle stopped the following lap and emerged behind the Toyota, while Ryan also managed to undercut Cooper Murray when he stopped later in the race.

By Lap 24, Ryan had worked his way into an effective ninth and looked on course for another Top 10 before Rylan Gray’s stranded Mustang brought out the Safety Car. The field was bunched back together, handing a significant advantage to those who had stopped later for fresher tyres.

When racing resumed, Ryan began applying pressure to Anton De Pasquale ahead. As he looked to make a move into Turn 4, the pair made contact, sending De Pasquale into James Golding and leaving both cars spinning.

The incident shuffled Ryan back to 10th, with another Safety Car following only a couple of laps later. When racing eventually resumed for a six-lap dash to the flag, he found himself 12th with several cars on fresher tyres behind.

Those newer tyres proved difficult to defend against, with Ryan eventually slipping to 14th by the chequered flag. It was a frustrating result after climbing from 18th into an effective ninth before the Safety Car, though still another solid recovery from deep in the field.

Sunday offered one final chance to finish the Sprint Cup on a high, beginning with the three-part Qualifying session. First up was Part 1, where Ryan needed to finish inside the Top 18 to progress.

Ryan opened with a 1:10.098 to sit 10th after the first runs before finding more time on his final attempt. A 1:09.904 would ultimately leave him 15th, safely securing a place in Part 2.

After bedding in a set of tyres early in the session, Ryan elected to complete just one proper run. His first push produced a 1:09.772 to sit 12th before an improvement to 1:09.614 moved him inside the Top 10.

Unfortunately, the position wouldn’t hold as the final laps came in. Ryan slipped back to 17th and was unable to improve on his last attempt, leaving him with another big recovery job in the final race of the weekend.

Starting from the ninth row, Ryan’s final race got off to a difficult start, with the Kiwi losing a couple of places before becoming locked in a fierce battle with Jackson Walls.

Ryan eventually cleared the Mustang, though the fight had cost him valuable time and allowed Jayden Ojeda through from behind. After shadowing Ojeda for several laps, Ryan reclaimed the position before also finding a way past Le Brocq to work his way back towards where he had started.

Caught in the pack, Ryan made his first stop on Lap 16 in search of some clean air. Unfortunately, he emerged in the middle of another group and once again had traffic to negotiate.

Moves on Declan Fraser and Le Brocq helped Ryan climb to 13th once the first pit cycle had played out, although he began to lose ground later in the stint as those on newer tyres worked their way back through.

Ryan made his second stop on Lap 39 and once the final pit cycle had shaken out, found himself back in 13th. He came under plenty of pressure from fellow Kiwi Andre Heimgartner over the closing laps, but held firm to bring the #2 Toyota home in 13th and complete another recovery from the ninth row.

With the weekend complete, Ryan remains ninth in the Drivers’ Championship, now 169 points clear of the first driver outside the Finals cut-line. It may not be quite the margin he would have hoped for, though with two races remaining before the Top 10 is locked in, he remains in a strong position.

Focus now turns to the Endurance Cup, where fellow Kiwi Jaxon Evans will join Ryan aboard the #2 Walkinshaw TWG Racing Toyota Supra, beginning with The Bend 500 in three weeks’ time.

Be sure to keep an eye on our socials for our full preview and schedule heading into the weekend.

A tough one Ryan, but there’s still plenty to play for. Head up and bring on The Bend!

What started as a dream weekend for Tony Quinn Foundation Ambassador Tom Bewley unfortunately ended in frustration at Queensland Raceway. The young Kiwi showed record-breaking pace on his way to a first career Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Pole Position, though in the races, things would unfortunately unravel. Let’s take a look at how it all unfolded.

Tom headed into the weekend in good form following a strong showing last time out in Darwin, where he secured back-to-back Top 6 finishes, including his first Top 5 in the series. Adding to that momentum was a return to a familiar circuit, with Tom having shown plenty of pace at Ipswich during his Porsche Sprint Challenge campaign last year.

Two 25-minute Practice sessions on Friday gave Tom the chance to get reacquainted with the circuit and work towards getting the #89 Earl Bamber Motorsport Porsche into a good window ahead of Qualifying. Things got off to a promising start in Practice 1, with the 18-year-old completing a total of 16 laps and setting a best time of 1:09.1479 to finish fourth, just over two tenths away from the benchmark time.

Later that afternoon, Tom returned for Practice 2, though his running would be far more limited. Completing around half as many laps as most of his rivals, the Kiwi still managed to set a competitive time and finish seventh, rounding out an encouraging opening day at Ipswich.

With Practice complete, attention shifted to Saturday morning’s 30-minute Qualifying session. As usual in Carrera Cup, outright Pole wasn’t the only focus, with each driver’s second-fastest lap also determining the grid for Race 2.

Right from the opening runs, Tom looked capable of fighting at the front. The 18-year-old spent plenty of time at the top of the timesheets before finishing the opening runs narrowly off the top in P2, just half a tenth away from the fastest time.

After returning to the pits for his second set of tyres, Tom headed back out for one final crack. That was when the #89 really came alive, with the Kiwi producing an absolute stormer of a lap to set a 1:08.361 and jump three tenths clear of the field.

There was still plenty of time left on the clock, and while several drivers would improve over the closing minutes, nobody could get near Tom’s benchmark. In just his third round of Porsche Carrera Cup Australia, Tom had secured his first career Pole Position, while also setting a new Qualifying lap record around the circuit and delivering Earl Bamber Motorsport its first Pole in two years. What a lap!

With outright Pole secured, attention also turned to Tom’s second-fastest time. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to string together another lap at quite the same pace during his final run, leaving him seventh on the grid for Sunday’s second race. Still, there was little taking away from what had been a remarkable Qualifying performance.

Tom’s first opportunity to convert that impressive Qualifying pace would come later that day, lining up from Pole Position for Saturday’s opening 45-minute race.

Unfortunately, the moment he had worked so hard for would last only a matter of seconds. As Tom loaded the clutch for the start, it melted, leaving the #89 with no drive as the rest of the field launched away around him.

With the entire field bearing down on him, Tom reacted quickly to move out of harm’s way before pulling to the side of the circuit to retire. Thankfully, everyone avoided the stricken Porsche, but it was a heartbreaking way for his first race from Pole to end before it had really begun.

As frustrating as it was, these things happen in motorsport. I still remember a young Scott McLaughlin suffering a very similar fate on his first Super2 front-row start. It happens to the best of them, and fortunately, Tom still had another opportunity to bounce back on Sunday.

For the second and final 45-minute race of the weekend, Tom would start from seventh and was determined to make up for Saturday’s disappointment.

This time, there were no problems getting away. Tom made a strong launch to move into sixth before the field reached Turn 1, putting himself right amongst the lead group heading through the opening corners.

Moments later, chaos unfolded at Turn 3 as several cars spun in front of the field. Tom managed to safely negotiate his way through the carnage and hold sixth, while the stranded cars and debris brought out an early Safety Car.

After around 10 minutes behind the Safety Car, racing resumed with just under half an hour remaining, with Tom restarting in sixth and right on the back of reigning Champion Dylan O’Keeffe.

Once back up to speed, the #89 looked seriously quick. Tom began closing on the group ahead and soon set the fastest lap of the race as the fight for a place inside the Top 5 began to heat up.

A few laps later, O’Keeffe made his way past Aaron Love for fourth, with Love looking to battle back around the outside at the final corner. That opened the door for Tom to go down the inside, though Love turned in and the pair made contact, sending the #78 into a spin.

As Love spun, Tom would collect the #78, damaging the front splitter on his Porsche. Thankfully, the damage wasn’t enough to end his race, with Tom continuing in fifth around a second behind O’Keeffe.

As the race entered its closing stages, O’Keeffe gradually began edging away ahead, while Max Geoghegan and a growing train of cars began closing onto the back of Tom.

Despite the increasing pressure, the Kiwi held firm for several laps as he edged closer to what would have been his second Top 5 finish.

With only a lap and a half remaining, however, Tom’s luck ran out once again. Geoghegan made contact with the rear of the #89, spinning Tom off the circuit and sending him tumbling down the order.

By the time Tom recovered and rejoined, he had fallen to 17th overall. He crossed the line there the following lap, bringing an incredibly frustrating pair of races to an end after showing the pace to be fighting much further towards the front.

It may not have been the weekend Tom would have hoped for after such a promising start, but there are still plenty of positives to take away. A first career Pole Position, a new lap record and another showing right at the front of the field certainly gives him plenty to build on.

The difficult weekend leaves Tom 13th in the Pro Championship, though with four rounds still remaining, there is plenty of time to work his way back up the order. His next opportunity comes in a few weeks at The Bend Motorsport Park for Round 4, where he’ll be looking to turn that front-running pace into the results it deserves.

Make sure you keep an eye on our socials for our full preview and schedule heading into the weekend as we continue to follow Tom’s rookie Porsche Carrera Cup Australia campaign.

Keep your head up Tom, there’s plenty more to come! We’re incredibly proud of the progress you’re making and can’t wait to see you back out there at The Bend.

Redemption. Probably the best way to describe Tony Quinn Foundation Ambassador Liam Lawson’s one-off return to Red Bull Racing over the weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix, with the Kiwi making the most of his unexpected opportunity and capping off an impressive weekend with seventh in Sunday’s Grand Prix. Let’s take a look at how his Super-Sub performance unfolded.

After four weeks of waiting, no one could have predicted the Dutch Grand Prix we were about to get. Liam had been preparing for another weekend fighting at the front of the midfield with Racing Bulls, but during race week, everything changed.

Former teammate and current Red Bull Racing driver Isack Hadjar suffered a wrist injury while training, ruling him out of the weekend and forcing Red Bull to reshuffle its line-up. Reserve driver Yuki Tsunoda was called into action, though not for the main team. Instead, Red Bull turned to Liam, slotting him into the RB22 for the first time while Tsunoda took over his Racing Bulls for the weekend.

It was an opportunity Liam probably thought would never come again following his shock exit from the team at the beginning of last season. With an unfamiliar car waiting for him at Zandvoort and almost no preparation time, Liam would need to get himself up to speed quickly.

Making the task even harder, the Dutch Grand Prix would run to the Sprint format for the first time, giving Liam just one 60-minute Practice session to get accustomed to the Red Bull before things got serious with Sprint Qualifying later that day.

When that all-important Practice session got underway, Liam was immediately faced with another challenge, with wet but drying conditions seeing the early runners head out on Intermediate tyres. Liam instead remained in the garage while a dry line began to form, eventually joining the circuit around 10 minutes into the session as the field began switching across to slicks.

Liam spent much of the opening half of the session on the Hard tyre, completing several runs as he got a feel for the RB22 and worked with the team to make the setup more comfortable. Despite still learning the car, he spent much of those early runs comfortably inside the Top 10.

After a short spell in the pits to go through the data and make some changes, Liam returned for a high-fuel run on the Hard tyre before preparing for his first Qualifying simulations on the Softs.

Unfortunately, those final runs didn’t go to plan. All three of Liam’s timed laps were affected by traffic, something all too common around the short 4.2-kilometre Zandvoort circuit, leaving him without a representative lap. He eventually finished Practice 14th, only a few places behind teammate Max Verstappen after a difficult opening session for Red Bull.

Only a few hours later, attention shifted to Sprint Qualifying, with the Medium tyre mandatory for the opening two parts. Liam’s opening run would also mark his first laps on the compound all weekend, adding yet another unknown as he began his first Qualifying session in the RB22.

Liam used just one set of Mediums throughout SQ1, completing three timed laps and improving with each attempt. His final effort of 1:13.420 lifted him to sixth, one place ahead of Verstappen, comfortably securing his place in SQ2 and making an impressive start to his first Qualifying session back with Red Bull.

The Medium tyre remained mandatory in SQ2, where Liam made another step with a 1:13.166, almost three tenths quicker than his SQ1 best and good enough for seventh, right behind his teammate.

Liam improved slightly again on his final push, initially keeping himself inside the Top 10, but several late improvements from behind pushed him back to 11th and narrowly out of a place in SQ3. It was a frustrating result given the pace he had shown, particularly with overtaking expected to be difficult around the narrow Zandvoort circuit.

Next up was the 24-lap Sprint, Zandvoort’s first and only Sprint Race, with Liam starting alongside his fill-in Yuki Tsunoda and joining the majority of the field on the Medium tyre.

Liam made a solid launch and immediately went on the attack, heading around the outside of usual teammate Arvid Lindblad into Turn 1. The pair continued battling through much of the opening lap, but Lindblad defended hard and narrowly managed to hold Liam behind.

Unfortunately, that set the tone for a frustrating Sprint. Liam appeared to have more pace in the Red Bull, but not enough of an advantage to find a way past around a circuit where overtaking proved almost impossible. After spending several laps shadowing Lindblad, Liam eventually backed off and brought the car home in 11th.

It was an extremely uneventful Sprint, with just one overtake completed throughout the entire field after the opening lap. While there was little Liam could do to make progress, the 24 laps gave him valuable extra mileage in the RB22 before attention shifted to Grand Prix Qualifying.

With a little more preparation under his belt, Liam headed into Saturday afternoon looking to make another step forward and secure a place in Q3.

The Soft tyre was back in play for Grand Prix Qualifying, and Liam looked quick from the outset. His opening flyer of 1:13.409 briefly put him second, just 0.003 from the top and almost two tenths ahead of Verstappen.

Liam headed back out for one final push and only just crossed the line in time to begin his lap. He managed to shave another few hundredths from his best to safely progress to Q2, though it proved a difficult end to the session for Red Bull, with Verstappen finishing 12th and Liam 14th.

The target in Q2 was simple, make the Top 10. Liam made a strong start with a 1:12.638 on his opening flyer, almost matching Verstappen and putting himself firmly in the fight for Q3.

Sitting 10th heading into the final runs, Liam returned to the circuit for one last attempt. Despite encountering traffic through the final sector, he found more than three tenths to set a 1:12.301, jumping to eighth and safely securing his place in Q3.

Liam headed out early in the final part of Qualifying and immediately broke into the 1:11s, setting a 1:11.812 to move into sixth, just over a tenth behind his teammate. As Liam completed the lap, rain began falling around the circuit, prompting the team to quickly call him back to the pits for another fresh set of Soft tyres.

Following a rapid turnaround, Liam returned to the circuit for one final attempt. Despite a less-than-ideal preparation lap and conditions beginning to deteriorate, he still managed to improve to a 1:11.733 and briefly move into seventh before Lewis Hamilton improved late to push him back to eighth.

Still, eighth represented a superb result. With only one Practice session and a Sprint under his belt in the RB22, Liam had made Q3 and finished just over a tenth behind his World Champion teammate, setting himself up nicely for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Liam would line up alongside Verstappen on the fourth row, though the drama began before the race had even started. Rain arrived in the build-up, leaving parts of the circuit wet, but the entire field elected to begin on slick tyres, with Liam opting for the Soft compound.

At the start, Liam made a solid launch and put the pressure on Verstappen through the opening corners. The pair came particularly close through Turn 3 before Liam tucked back in behind his teammate, though he wouldn’t stay there for long.

Verstappen lost control through the final corner, with a big snap sending the Dutchman hard into the barrier. Liam was directly behind and did well to avoid his stricken teammate, moving through into seventh as the Red Flag was shown.

Fortunately Verstappen was okay, though the accident resulted in a lengthy delay. Around half an hour later, the field prepared for another standing start, this time with Liam lining up seventh alongside usual teammate Lindblad.

An aborted start followed when Oliver Bearman’s Haas pulled over on the formation lap, but when the Grand Prix finally resumed, Liam made a clean getaway and settled into seventh behind the two Ferraris.

Over the following laps, the field began to spread out. The Red Bull didn’t quite have the pace to stay with the three leading teams ahead, but Liam remained consistent and steadily built a sizeable advantage over the midfield behind.

Liam extended his opening stint until the end of Lap 21 before making his first stop for a set of Medium tyres. He rejoined ninth, only a couple of seconds behind Fernando Alonso and Alex Albon, both of whom were yet to stop.

It didn’t take him long to clear the pair. Liam picked them off over the following two laps with moves into Turn 1, quickly returning to seventh before settling into another competitive stint on the Medium tyre.

As the stint progressed, Liam began struggling with low-speed traction, eventually returning to the pits on Lap 47 for another set of Mediums. He rejoined in seventh and, once the remaining drivers behind had completed their stops, found himself almost 30 seconds clear of Nico Hülkenberg.

From there, Liam continued building his advantage while maintaining competitive pace compared with Oscar Piastri ahead. That continued until Lap 55, when a Virtual Safety Car was called for Esteban Ocon’s stranded Haas at the exit of Turn 3.

Racing resumed a few laps later, though shortly afterwards Liam was placed under investigation for a Yellow Flag infringement. A 10-second penalty was eventually handed down, the only real blip in what had otherwise been a faultless Grand Prix.

Fortunately, Liam had built such a substantial advantage that the penalty made no difference to the result. By that stage, he sat more than 40 seconds clear of Hülkenberg behind and remained comfortably seventh.

Another Virtual Safety Car was called on Lap 69 to clear debris from the circuit, but the interruption was short-lived and racing resumed for the final few laps.

After 72 laps, Liam crossed the line seventh to secure six valuable Championship points and cap off a remarkable one-off return to Red Bull Racing.

Considering how Liam’s time with the team came to an end last year, there was certainly a sense of redemption in the result. His return may have come in completely unexpected circumstances, but Liam grabbed it with both hands and showed just how far he has come since that difficult start to last season.

The result was also important for Liam’s Championship campaign. After Pierre Gasly drew level with him following the Sprint, Liam’s six points on Sunday moved him back five clear of the Frenchman and strengthened his hold on ninth in the Drivers’ Championship with 49 points.

Liam is expected to return to Racing Bulls next time out, with Hadjar likely to be back behind the wheel for Red Bull. His usual team will certainly be happy to have him back after enduring its first pointless Grand Prix since Miami, leaving Racing Bulls just three points clear of Alpine in the battle for fifth in the Constructors’ Championship.

Liam now gets a week to let an unforgettable weekend sink in before attention shifts to Monza and the Italian Grand Prix, Racing Bulls’ home event.

Congratulations on a mega weekend Liam. After everything that happened last year, there probably couldn’t have been a better way to make your return to Red Bull. We already knew you had the goods, but a performance like that certainly doesn’t hurt in proving a few people wrong!

We are incredibly proud to be supporting you on this journey.

SUPERB SEVENTH FOR LIAM!

Tony Quinn Foundation Ambassador Liam Lawson has finished seventh in the Dutch Grand Prix overnight, scoring six valuable points on his return to Red Bull Racing following a chaotic opening lap which saw teammate Max Verstappen crash heavily.

The drama began before the race had even started, with rain hitting Zandvoort in the build-up and leaving parts of the circuit wet, particularly through the final sector. Despite the tricky conditions, the entire field opted for dry tyres, with Liam lining up on the Softs.

After his strong Qualifying performance put him alongside Verstappen on the fourth row, Liam made a decent start and battled his teammate through the opening corners. The pair came incredibly close through Turn 3 before Liam tucked in behind.

Things quickly took another turn later in the lap when Verstappen suffered a big snap through the final corner and crashed heavily into the barriers. Liam did well to avoid his spinning teammate, with the race red flagged shortly afterwards.

Following a lengthy delay, racing resumed with another standing start, with Liam again getting away well and settling into seventh behind the two Ferraris.

From there, Liam quickly pulled clear of the midfield battle behind, although the Ferraris ahead proved too quick. He continued to show strong and consistent pace in the RB22, running a two-stop Soft-Medium-Medium strategy to the flag.

The only blip in an otherwise faultless drive came late, with Liam handed a 10-second penalty for a Yellow Flag infringement. The gap he had built behind meant it made no difference to the final result.

After 72 laps, Liam crossed the line seventh to score six points for Red Bull and once again prove himself as Zandvoort’s Super-Sub.

A special result given how Liam’s time with Red Bull ended last season, and one that surely carries a sense of redemption. To return at short notice and put together such a strong weekend shows just how far he has come since then.

Liam now sits on 49 points, five clear of Pierre Gasly in the World Drivers’ Championship with 11 Rounds remaining.

Keep an eye on our socials for our full recap Monday afternoon.

Congratulations Liam, couldn’t have asked for much more this weekend!