From the moment the contract was signed, this weekend had been circled on the calendar.
Phillip Island. The Monochrome GT4 Australia Championship. Round 1. It doesn't get much bigger than that for an 18-year-old kid from Palmy, and I won't pretend I wasn't thinking about it every single day leading up to it.
This was the biggest weekend of my life. Not just in motorsport, but full stop. To line up in a professional GT4 championship at a circuit like Phillip Island, surrounded by some of the best GT machinery in the country, is the kind of thing you dream about when you're karting as an eight-year-old. I soaked every second of it in.
Now, how did it actually go? Read on.
Practice
If this weekend proved one thing, it's that the #95 Mustang is quick. Very quick.
Practice 1 we ran old tyres for most of the session, scrubbing them in and getting a read on the car around Phillip Island. On those tyres, we were sitting around 11th in the 34-car field. Nothing spectacular, but not the full picture either.
We bolted on a set of new tyres toward the end of the session, and the car came alive. We went 6th fastest overall - out of 34 cars, just a couple of tenths from outright P1.
That number matters. It told me exactly what this car is capable of when everything comes together, and it set the tone for the rest of the weekend. The pace is there. That meant a lot to me, and I knew we had the tools to get the job done.
Qualifying
I'll be honest with you - qualifying still stings a little.
We headed out in wet conditions for my qualifying session. The session was building nicely. I was sitting 7th on the timing screens, and mid-lap I was a full second up on my previous best time. That lap would have been enough for pole position. We ended up 14th, but the timing couldn't have been worse. A red flag came out mid-session right as I was on what I genuinely believe was a pole lap - I had no chance to complete the lap and move up. That's racing.
Race 1
Race 1 was one of those races where everything that could go sideways, did.
We started 14th and made early progress. The conditions all day had been wet, and right up until the last moment it was a toss-up between wets and slicks. We made the call to go slicks - the right call, as it turned out. But the rush to make that decision meant we didn't have time to properly set the tyre pressures for a dry race. We hit the track on high pressures, essentially still set up for a wet start.
Even with that, we moved from 14th to 10th in the early laps. The car was moving.
Then the pit window opened, and things unravelled.
We tried to bleed the tyre pressures down during the stop. Couldn't get it done in time. On top of that, the pit lane timer didn't function correctly, costing us more time we couldn't afford to lose. We had a very late release from the lane and rejoined close to the back of the field.
No safety car came. No luck. We crossed the line 24th overall and 13th in Silver class.
It's a tough pill. But this sport has a way of testing you, and I'm making it my goal to respond and move forward over the season.
Race 2
Race 2 was a very different story.
We started from 20th, so the job was always going to be an uphill one. Cooper put his head down and drove an absolutely outstanding stint. Lap after lap he was quick, consistent, and moving through the field. He proved clearly that the #95 Mustang had no business being that far back.
We made the swap, I got back out on track and settled into my rhythm.
A real highlight for me came mid-stint - going around the outside of Tony D'Alberto through one of the fastest sections of the track. He's a driver I've looked up to, and to share the race track with so many high-calibre drivers is truly incredible. That felt good, and it was another little confidence booster for next round.
Toward the end of the race, when everyone's tyres were fading, ours still had some left. We were the third fastest car on track in the closing laps. We crossed the line P9 overall and 6th in Silver class.
"Eight championship points on the board. It's not the haul we came for - but it's a start, and the raw pace we showed throughout the weekend tells me everything I need to know about where this season is headed."
Where We Stand
After Round 1, we sit 11th in the Silver/Pro Championship standings.
There's a long way to go, and I know what this car can do. The results this weekend didn't reflect where we belong in this field. The practice times showed it, the closing laps of Race 2 showed it, and honestly, a clear qualifying lap would have shown it too.
Round 2 at The Bend is next. We go again.
My Reflection
People ask me if I was nervous heading into a weekend like this. Honestly? Not in the way you might expect.
Racing is what I do. The moment I strapped in, it was just another race. A faster car, a bigger stage, but the same job - find the limit, push it, and bring the car home.
What I will say is that Phillip Island is something else entirely as a circuit. Fast, flowing, unforgiving. The type of track where you feel so alive in the car. Even in the moments where things weren't going our way, I was loving every second of it.
This championship is serious. The field is deep. The cars are fast. And I'm exactly where I want to be.
In the Press
Want to hear more? Read the coverage from Round 1:
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