Jackson Walls takes maiden Toyota Racing Series victory at Pukekohe
Aussie Jackson Walls has taken his first ever international single seater win in the Castrol Toyota Racing Series reverse-grid race at Pukekoke. Petr Ptáček was second, with Franco Colapinto in third.
The grid was set to be a reverse top eight from Race 1, but a number of penalties jumbled the order, leaving Jackson Walls on pole with Petr Ptáček alongside him.
Walls started well, and kept his lead from the Czech driver throughout the first lap, as the pair pulled away from the squabbling field behind them.
Liam Lawson bested championship rival Igor Fraga, and the Brazilian lost valuable race position as Yuki Tsunoda and Ido Cohen followed Lawson down the inside.
Walls and Ptáček were locked in a battle for lap time, while third-place Franco Colapinto had to drive at his limits against the chase of Liam Lawson.
Lawson showed his brilliance, attempted to position himself on the inside of Colapinto at the end of each of the long Pukekohe straights, but the Argentinian was able to keep him at bay.
Yuki Tsunoda looked to be a challenger from fifth, but Fraga was on the recovery, dispatching Cohen and then Tsunoda on his drive to hold the slim lead of the championship.
Past the halfway point, and Fraga had caught Lawson, taking the pressure off Colapinto as it was now the young kiwi’s turn to go on the defensive.
Walls’ pace was unbeatable, and he lead across the line from Ptáček, with Colapinto in third followed by Lawson and Fraga.
“That definitely something I wasn’t expecting. I’m speechless,” said Walls.
“I haven’t been doing the best starts, but luckily I got a good enough one this time. I made a few mistakes, but I held on for the win. All the years of hard work have been put into this and honestly I couldn’t be happier.
"I felt Petr pressuring me a couple of times but I felt pretty comfortable the whole race. I told the boys to keep quiet as I had it under control. If he was going to keep pressuring me, he was going to burn out his tyres, mine were nice and cool the whole race."
The victory is Jackson Walls’ first ever in an international series, and second in open-wheel racing after taking a win in the 2019 Australian Formula 4 Championship.
Castrol Toyota Racing Series - Race 2 @ Pukekohe
- Jackson Walls (AUS)
- Petr Ptáček
- Franco Colapinto
- Liam Lawson (NZ)
- Igor Fraga
- Grégoire Saucy
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Ido Cohen
- Rui Andrade
- Tijmen van der Helm
- Oliver Rasmussen
- Lucas Petersson
- Spike Kohlbhecker
- Caio Collet
- Henning Enqvist
- Axel Gnos
- Emilien Denner - DNF
- Lirim Zendeli - DNF
