Tim Brook has taken overall lead of the Toyota 86 Racing Series

Tim Brook has taken overall lead of the Toyota 86 Racing Series after claiming his first victory in Race 4 at the Watpak Townsville 400.

Brook, driving the McLaren Real Estate Macarthur Toyota 86, started from pole in the first race of the weekend and led from start to finish setting a new race lap record of 1: 30.198 in the process, shaving nearly 0.2 seconds off Cameron Hill’s 2017 previous race lap record.

Brook’s win takes him to the top of the leaderboard in the series after current series leader Liam McAdam, who took a clean sweep of the first three races at Phillip Island, was forced to retire on lap five suffering a mechanical fault.

Brook said he was rapt with his result in the first race at the Queensland street circuit having finished second and third at the season openers in Victoria.

“I’m super stoked. There is a part of me that thought it was never going to happen,” Brook said.

“We have had second a few times but to make it happen today was awesome. And getting pole position this morning really tops it off, it’s been a perfect day.

“I don’t know how we ended up with such a big gap but the car was good, so I just put my head down and pressed on.”

Brook crossed the finish line 1.9 seconds ahead of second placed Luke King in the AISIN Products 86 with Cameron Crick driving the Clintons Toyota / Plus Fitness car joining them on the podium in third.

Brook, King, Crick and fourth placed Jake Klein all rounded the second corner in that order and maintained it through the race but when fifth-placed McAdam faltered on lap five, it left the door open for James Wilkins in his That English Bloke car to move up the order and take his first top five finish for the year.

Stellar performances from the series’ youngest drivers saw 15-year olds Broc Feeney and Jaylyn Robotham finish just outside the top ten in 11th and 12th respectively with Feeney having started on the grid in 16th slot.

Best improver for the race however was South Australian driver George Gutierrez who finished in 14th position having started the 11-lap race on the number 20 slot on the grid.

Sunday brings two more races in the 86 Racing Series in Townsville and Tim Brook is hoping to repeat his success.

“We just want to keep making points and the big picture is the end of the year and if we can keep at the front in the top three that’s where we need to be”.

Race one results:
1. Tim Brook
2. Luke King
3. Cameron Crick

THE TOYOTA 86 RACING SERIES

The Toyota 86 Racing Series is designed to provide an entry point and training ground for up-and-coming drivers, offering a confirmed prize pool of $150,000.

Top-three place rewards for the year are $50,000, $30,000 and $15,000. The coveted Kaizen Award for continuous improvement now includes prizes valued up to $35,000 including a fully funded trip to compete in a round of New Zealand’s 86 racing series. The entry fee is unchanged at $1,500 per round.

Open to variants of Toyota’s cult-classic sports car, the series is part of the support program at selected rounds of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship.

In 2018, the Toyota 86 Racing Series is being run over six events: Phillip Island 500 (April 20-22), Townsville 400 (July 6-8), The Bend Supersprint (August 24-26), Sandown 500 (September 14-16), Bathurst 1000 (October 4-7) and Newcastle 500 (November 23-25).

For regular updates and more information go to https://toyota.com.au/86/racing-series.