NEW ZEALAND rising star Willie Exton has claimed the opening round of the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia Series in a dramatic weekend’s racing at the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit.

Exton, driving for TekworkX Motorsport, claimed the opening race on Saturday and then Sunday’s opening sprint before a safe seventh in the Jim Richards Enduro Trophy opener on Sunday afternoon ensured he claimed the big trophy in the first of six rounds this year.

He led home fellow Kiwi Tom Bewley and teenager Jake Santalucia in the overall results for Round 1 with three teams represented in the top three, while the round win was the first for the Queensland-based TekworkX squad in Sprint Challenge competition.

After finishing second on Saturday, a pair of victories delivered Ramu Farrell the Pro-Am round win while Daniel Quimby punched well above to claim the Class B round and mix it with the outright contenders in the process.

Exton’s pathway to the round win was aided by a dominant victory in race two on Sunday morning as he led from lights to flag.

The star of that race, however, was Jake Santalucia who charged from 13th on the grid to second in a stirring drive aboard his Sonic Motor Racing entry.

Hunter Robb had led the race early on the opening lap before he ran off the road and spun at turn 12, handing the lead to Exton and dropping back through the field.

Santalucia, meanwhile, carved his way past several rivals with some thrilling racing that included a three-wide battle for the minors on the exit of Siberia mid-race.

Farrell finished an outstanding sixth outright to claim the Pro-Am win while Quimby was ninth and first of the Class B cars.

Race three doubled as the Jim Richards Enduro trophy opener and was held in challenging conditions – an earlier rain shower leaving the track damp but drying for the 45-minute encounter.

With a majority of the field starting on slick Michelin rubber, Santalucia made the best start from the outside of the front row and rocketed to an early lead he would never lose: easing away throughout the race to claim a dominant win – his first in one-make Porsche racing.

His win made him the youngest winner of a one-make Porsche race in Australia since 2018.

Tom Bewley finished second while Ryan Casha was the biggest improver: working his way forward from 11th on the grid to a top three finish in his strongest performance of the weekend.

With Lockie Bloxsom fourth – a position he owned in each race at Phillip Island – fifth went the way of Kamal Mrad, who starred in his Cup Car Engineering entry to cap off a strong debut weekend for the open-wheel graduate.

Tyler Greenbury finished sixth while Exton slipped back as the race progressed however ensured he did enough to seal the round win overall.

James Lodge rebounded from an unfortunate pair of non-finishes in races one and two to claim eighth with Jackson Rooney and Hunter Robb completing the 10.

Farrell claimed the Pro-Am win in the Enduro while Quimby completed his sweep to take Class B.

As a sign of the competitive balance in this year’s championship, the top eight positions overall for the weekend were filled by eight different teams.

With the first round complete, there will be little time for Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia contenders to regroup ahead of the second round of the series at Sydney Motorsport Park in New South Wales.

Running with the Shannons SpeedSeries, the Western Sydney circuit will host round two on May 2-4.