The RX8 Cup ventured down south to sunny Winton Raceway for round 2 of the 2025 season. A solid field of 18 cars came out to qualify including Australian Motorsport legend John Bowe. It was the South African Stiaan Kriel who would claim his second Revolution Racegear Pole Position of the year with a 1:36.7. Grant Bray locked out the front row 0.405 behind Kriel with reigning champion Robert Scott third fastest. Jackson Noakes and Tom Donohue rounded out the top five.
In Race 1 Kriel made a brilliant start and by the time the cars arrived at turn 3, he had already built a gap to the chasing pack that consisted of Scott, Bray and Noakes. Stiaan’s pace was impressive, building a comfortable gap back to second place. The mid-pack dice between King and Hills was fantastic with both drivers swapping positions multiple times. Maisie Place and Ronin Lindenmayor also had a spirited battle. Glen Gamble unfortunately retired on lap 5 and was soon joined by Zaki Wazir and Jake Lougher. Kriel went on to win comfortably from Scott and Bray, Noakes was 4th and Donohue 5th.
Sunday morning Race 2 saw a repeat of the first race with Kriel getting the jump and pulling away from the rest of the field. Scott, Bray and Noakes recommenced their dice for 2nd place. The unfortunate Bowe crossed the blend line coming out onto the track for the warmup lap, he received a 15 second penalty for the incursion. Lindenmayer and Place were dicing in close quarters just ahead of Lak. Rookie to the series Jack Childs and Jake Lougher also put on a great show. Glen Gamble was the first and only DNF of the race suffering the same wheel nut issue was he did in race one. Kriel was on another level at front, subsequently winning by a 15 second margin. Scott was 2nd from Bray. Noakes finished 4th and Steven King with his first top 5 finish in just his second race meeting with the category.
Kriel repeated his form in race 3, a great start with an early lead from Scott. Noakes and Bray swapped positions multiple times as they diced for 3rd,Donohue was also involved through out the race. King was an early retirement, and the unfortunate Garry Lougher had his first DNF of the weekend. Kriel was dominant again, winning by another big margin from the very consistent Scott. Noakes outgunned Bray to finish 3rd. Donohue drove well and was rewarded with 5th place.
In the final race of the round Kriel was ready to make it a clean sweep. As the cars came out to the grid, Kriel had a small wheel spin to warm up the tyres and due to this, he was given a 10 second penalty. Scott had the best start and took command of the race. Kriel was 2nd and Noakes 3rd. For the opening few laps, Scott put on a great display of defensive driving to keep Kriel and Noakes behind. The leader went wide on the last corner complex, and this allowed both cars behind him to go past. Kriel now found himself in the lead, with a 10 second penalty hanging over him. All Noakes had to do is to shadow the leader throughout the race. Further back, Hills, Lougher and Childs were having a great race. As were Gamble, Lak and Place. Kriel was slowly pulling away from Noakes and crossed the line to finish 1st, Noakes was able to finish only 8 seconds behind, subsequently winning his first RX8 Cup race and the story of the weekend! Kriel had enough margin to be declare 2nd and would take the round win. Scott was rewarded with a 3rd place. Bray was 4th from Donohue, Hills finished in 6th place, Lougher was 7th and Childs 8th. Bowe and Prasad rounded out the top 10.
Round 2 at Winton was one to remember with 18 cars starting and finishing the weekend of racing with no damage. Congratulations to Stiaan Kriel for winning the round and setting the new lap record, Robert Scott a solid 2nd place finish and Jackson Noakes claimed his first ever round podium finishing 3rd for the weekend. Thanks to our partners Scott Property Group for their support in 2025.
RX8 Cup Series Points 2025
1st – Stiaan Kriel 240 points
2nd – Robert Scott 214 points
3rd – Jackson Noakes 198 points
4th – Grant Bray 164 points
5th – Aaron Hills 154 Points