Official Release 28/09/26: Jensen Marold arrived at Queensland Raceway for the AU4 Championship’s Round 5 finale six points behind Marco Manson and left six points ahead of him, the 2026 Gen2 champion, while Jackson Culver arrived one point clear in Gen1 and needing a third place in the last race of the season to keep it that way – and finished third.
Getting there took three races, an extended red flag, a Manitou, a flatbed and a technical infringement across a busy weekend of racing alongside the QRDC event on September 25-27.
Marold set the tone with a Race 1 pole in Qualifying 1 with a 1:09.448, 0.163 seconds clear of Manson. Race 2 grids are decided by fastest laps in Race 1, and Q2 seeds the Race 3 starting order. William Beck turned that order over in Qualifying 2 to take the Race 3 pole by 0.046 seconds from Marold, with Brock Burton another 0.005 seconds back and the first nine cars covered by a mere 0.348 seconds.
Lewis Gotch topped Gen1 in both sessions, 0.398 seconds and then 0.213 seconds clear of Koby Wilson, who arrived one point behind Culver in the championship.
Manson wasted no time in the afternoon’s Race 1, taking Marold into the first turn and pulling five tenths on him as the pair began to drop Joe Imbrogno in third.Behind them, the race came apart in stages: Beck had an issue that sent him down the order, Xavier Babbage-Hockey and Jamie Lee-Su both went off, and Lana Flack spun at Turn 3 with Wilson using the aftermath to get through on Gotch for the Gen1 lead.
Flack rejoined a lap down and went charging back through the field at her home track, setting a 1:10.518 on the way, the fourth-fastest lap of the race, which would set her up for Race 2.
With 15 minutes to go Marold went past Manson and started to edge away, the two title contenders by then 3.2 seconds clear of Imbrogno, and he took the flag after 21 laps by 1.955 seconds with the fastest lap of the race, a 1:10.178, in his pocket as well. Imbrogno was third, 5.908 seconds behind Manson, ahead of Luca Cosolo and Burton, with De’argo Stewart sixth after late passes on Beck and Angus Baills.
Gen1 was tight all the way. Culver tried everything on the leaders, Gotch locked up on a dive for the lead into Turn 3, and Wilson held on to win by 1.127 seconds, with Culver 0.115 seconds behind Gotch in third.
After fastest laps were recorded, Race 2 seeding had Marold on pole alongside Manson, Cosolo third and Flack, courtesy of those quick recovery laps, fourth.
Manson got the jump on Marold again at lights out, and Cosolo slotted into third, before disaster at Turn 3. Baills ran into the back of Babbage-Hockey and turned him around, and while Babbage-Hockey got going again and pitted for a new right-rear tyre before rejoining at the tail of the field, Baills was not going anywhere, bogged so far into the gravel trap that getting the car out took a Manitou and a flatbed.
The extended red flag that followed left only five minutes of racing when the field finally went green. It was on. Manson led Marold away while Cosolo defended heavily in third and the two leaders pulled clear, and behind them Imbrogno and Flack fought for position until Beck tried a lunge around the outside of the mid-pack, found the marbles and half-spun, letting Stewart through to take on Burton.
Flack’s race then ended in the pits with a broken front wing, and no one could touch Manson, who won by 0.43 seconds from Marold with Cosolo defending all the way to the flag for third, another 0.43 seconds ahead of Imbrogno.
Gen1 went to the last corner. Wilson defended from Culver and Gotch all the way to the flag, and though Culver threw a last-ditch move at him onto the main straight, Wilson got to the line ahead by a nose – 0.06 seconds – with Gotch third.
Sadly, a technical infringement took the Race 2 points and ultimately the Championship chances away from Wilson, handing Culver the race victory and maximum points ahead of Gotch and throwing the title wide open for Race 3.
In Gen2, Beck and Marold on the front row and Manson facing some hard work from fifth after hitting traffic in Qualifying 2. Marold took the lead into Turn 1 with Beck close behind and Burton third. Manson went hunting for Babbage-Hockey, who held him off for some time, survived a near contact and then lost the place to a dive up the inside at Turn 6.
In Gen1 Wilson led Gotch and Rugby Mangan, with Culver fourth and in need of one more place. Culver bided his time behind Mangan, got past after a good tussle and then kept a mature head, racing for the points as Wilson and Gotch swapped places up front.
Then Burton went off at Turn 2 and was beached in the gravel, and this time double yellows rather than a red flag kept the race running for everyone else. That promoted Manson, but he was eight seconds behind Beck by then and further still from Marold, who ran as mature a race as anyone, keeping Beck at bay to win by 3.68 seconds.
Wilson crossed the line for the win in Gen1 from Gotch, and Culver brought it home in the third place he needed to lock in the title.
For the round, Marold took the win with 71 points to Manson’s 59, with Cosolo on 37, and finished the season on 320 points to Manson’s 314, with Cosolo third on 144.
Gotch won the Gen1 round on 58 points to Culver’s 55 and Wilson’s 51, finishing third in the championship on 274 to Wilson’s 279 and Culver’s 284.
AU4 now moves to the Australian Formula Series, held at The Bend Motorsport Park in Tailem Bend, South Australia, from December 3 – 20, 2026. Run to current FIA Formula 4 regulations in the Tatuus F4 T421 Gen2, the series runs three rounds on three circuit configurations, each with an official practice day and four races for 12 championship races in total. Entries are now open to Australian and international teams.
AU4 2026 – Championship Results (top 3)
Gen2:
1) Marold 320
2) Manson 314
3) Cosolo 144
Gen1:
1) Culver 284
2) Wilson 279
3) Gotch 274
AU4 2026 Round 5 points (top 3)
Gen1:
1) Gotch 58
2) Culver 55
3) Wilson 51
Gen2:
1) Marold 71
2) Manson 59
3) Cosolo 37
Media Contact: Samantha Stevens,
Event Administrator/Media Liaison, AU4 Championship
Email: media@au4championship.com
