Photo: AGI Sport
Isaac McNeill won two out of three races in the second round of AU4 (formerly known as Australian Formula 4) on The Bend Motorsport Park’s West layout.
The Volante Rosso driver was the only driver who could get near AGI Sport’s Cohen Kokotovich in practice, albeit still being 1.092 seconds off his pace, but nobody set any representative laptimes.
Qualifying was a more accurate barometer of who was quick, and in Q1 there was just 0.0458s splitting the top three drivers.
McNeill took race one pole, ahead of AGI’s Noah Killion and Tim Macrow Racing’s Harrison Duske. Kokotovich was 0.728s off pole in fifth, behind team-mate Imogen Radburn.
Jensen Marold was the top driver in a first-generation car down in eighth, 2.877s slower than McNeill.
It was also super close in Q2, and Duske snatched race three pole by 0.0625s over Killion. McNeill trailed by 0.1854s in third, and Tim Macrow Racing’s Brock Burton beaten Kokotovich to fourth. Marold qualified seventh.
Killion scuppered his chances of race one victory while the starting lights were turning on, as he jolted forward from his grid box. He then stalled and fell to the back.
McNeill led into turn one, got very crossed up there then managed to create a 0.7s gap through the rest of the lap as Killion recovered to 11th. Aggressive passes meant he was up to sixth by the time lap three began, while Duske and Kokotovich attempted to keep up with McNeill.
Killion overtook Radburn into turn one on lap five to make it to fourth, and there was an eight-second gap to McNeill to make up.
Duske and Kokotovich were gradually gapped by the leader, with Kokotovich being passed by Killion a few laps from the end and Duske dropping behind on the penultimate lap but the pair regaining their places due to Killion’s five-second penalty for jumping the start.
Gen1 leader Marold pressured Tim Macrow Racing’s Georgia Morgan for a long time until a late pass earned him seventh overall.
A five-second penalty also proved costly for Killion in race two, which he started from pole. McNeill took second from Duske into turn one, and a few corners later dived past Killion in a move which sent him off.
Killion attempted the same in return on lap three, then again at the penultimate corner as they sprinted away from Kokotovich and Radburn who had passed Duske.
There was another failed dive by Killion on lap four, and the safety car paused their battle on lap six but as Killion made his move for the lead.
Racing resumed on lap nine, and the top two ran side-by-side through the first corners before Killion pulled away. He did not quite do enough to negate his penalty, with McNeill inheriting victory by 0.6419s over Radburn and with a 0.6929s gap to Killion. Marold was Gen1 winner in sixth.
It finally went to plan for Killion in race three, after being late to the grid, as he passed poleman Duske and romped to victory.
McNeill also overtook Duske before turn one but then ran wide and dropped back behind. Their squabbling helped Killion break clear, and he won by 9.8830s.
Second place was reclaimed by McNeill mid-race, and Kokotovich finished on Duske’s tail after clearing some Gen1 drivers early on. Marold was class winner again.
Results round-up
Race 1 (18 laps)
1 Isaac McNeill Volante Rosso 26m41.2880s
2 Harrison Duske Tim Macrow Racing +4.61416s
3 Cohen Kokotovich AGI Sport +6.7290s
4 Noah Killion AGI Sport +8.4791s
5 Imogen Radburn AGI Sport +21.0957s
6 Brock Burton Tim Macrow Racing +22.4060s
7 Jensen Marold AGI Sport +1m00.7779s
8 Georgia Morgan Tim Macrow Racing +1m04.1498s
9 Koby Wilson AGI Sport +1m04.4013s
10 JesseJames Samuels AGI Sport +1m22.2621s
Pole: McNeill, 1m18.6581s
Fastest lap: Killion, 1m18.3384s
Race 2 (14 laps)
1 McNeill 26m37.7038s
2 Radburn +0.6419s
3 Killion +0.6929s
4 Kokotovich +1.1778s
5 Duske +3.8053s
6 Marold +14.6415s
7 Wilson +26.6898s
8 Andrew Fitzpatrick Fitzpatrick Racing +27.2804s
9 Morgan +28.6601s
10 Chloe Lane Tim Macrow Racing +30.6840s
FL: Killion, 1m18.4517s
Race 3 (18 laps)
1 Killion 26m39.5516s
2 McNeill +9.8830s
3 Duske +16.5913s
4 Kokotovich +16.8691s
5 Radburn +30.5016s
6 Burton +39.8286s
7 Marold +51.4801s
8 Morgan +1m08.2694s
9 Wilson +1m09.6470s
10 Fitzpatrick +1m35.2912s
P: Duske, 1m18.4900s
FL: Killion, 1m18.9862s
Championship standings
Gen2 1 McNeill 127 2 Killion 98 3 Duske 97 4 Radburn 89 5 Kokotovich 59 6 Burton 52 7 Morgan 36
Gen1 1 Marold 156 2 Wilson 108 3 Fitzpatrick 87 4 De’argo Stewart 62 5 Samuels 53 6 Lane 52 7 Lawrence Katsidis 30 8 Nicholas Filipetto 20