21-YEAR-OLD Malaysian driver Hayden Haikal has etched his name into Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia history, become the first driver from outside of Australia or New Zealand to score a pole position in the one-make Porsche series.
The Sonic Motor Racing / Johor Motor Racing driver set a 1m50.1479s flyer to edge out teammate Xavier Avramides to pole position by 0.07 seconds ahead of Round 2 this weekend at The Bend’s Shannons SpeedSeries event in South Australia.
It was the second quickest Sprint Challenge lap in the history of the 4.9km circuit and came on his final flyer of the session on a rapidly improving circuit.
Light rain fell just before the 30-minute qualifying session however the track dried rapidly throughout as times tumbled.
Kobi Williams held the top spot mid-way through the session before both Sonic cars pipped the Phillip Island race winner on their second runs.
The result is notable for Haikal, who is in just his second ever round of one-make Porsche racing and his first visit to the fast and flowing circuit at The Bend.
It’s also the first major result for the JMR Junior program, only launched this year with Haikal the first recipient of the Johor-based team’s support.
The front row lock-out was a big result for the Sonic team who has a strong record at The Bend, while Williams’ form picked up where he left off at Phillip Island.
Kamal Mrad was fourth, with Lincoln Taylor and championship leader Hunter Robb making up the third row of the grid, with Daniel Quimby just behind – that trio split by just 0.03 seconds and just six-tenths from pole.
The returning James Lodge, Diesel Thomas and Ruari Avern completed a competitive top-10.
Anthony Gilbertson continued his strong form in the Pro-Am ranks, banking his second straight pole position and qualifying 13th outright in his McElrea Racing entry.
He’ll start in front of Eric Constantinidis while Tim Farrell qualified third and Indiran Padayachee fourth in class.
A busy day at The Bend saw three sessions completed with two 30-minute practice sessions preceding the afternoon’s qualifying outing.
